IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


1.0 


I 


■  4.0 


Ihih 


12.2 


US 

u 


|20 


U    IL6 


I 


-^ 


Photograjiiic 

Sciences 

Corporation 


23  WIST  MAIN  STMET 

WfBSTIR.N.Y.  14SM 

(716)672-4503 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CiHIVI/iCIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historicai  IVIicroreproductions  /  institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notaa/Notes  tachniquaa  at  bibiiographiquaa 


Tf 
to 


Tha  Inatituta  haa  attamptad  to  obtain  tha  baat 
original  copy  availabia  for  filming.  Faaturaa  of  thia 
copy  which  may  ba  bibliographicaily  uniqua, 
which  may  altar  any  of  tha  imagaa  in  tha 
reproduction,  or  which  may  aignificantly  change 
the  uaual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


D 


D 


Coloured  covera/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I     I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommag^e 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Cc'jverture  reataur^a  et'ou  pellicula 

Cover  title  misaing/ 

La  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  mapa/ 

Cartas  g6ographiquea  en  couleur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plataa  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planchea  et/ou  illustrations  an  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
Raiii  avac  d'autrea  documents 


r~7\    Tight  binding  may  cause  shadowa  or  diatortlon 


D 


along  interior  margin/ 

La  re  iiure  serrde  peut  cauaar  da  I'ombre  ou  de  la 

distortion  la  long  de  la  marge  intArieure 

Blank  laavaa  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certainaa  pagea  blanches  ajouttea 
lore  d'una  reatauration  apparaiaaent  dana  la  taxta, 
mais,  iorsqua  cela  6talt  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  filmies. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentairea  8uppl6mentairaa: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  la  meilleur  exemplaira 
qu'ii  \ui  a  6tA  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaira  qui  sont  peut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  do  vue  bibliographiqua,  qui  peuvrmt  modifier 
una  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  oxiger  une 
modification  dana  la  mAthoda  normale  de  fiimaga 
sont  indlquAs  ci-dessous. 


n 

D 

n 
n 

D 
D 


□ 


Coloured  pagea/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
PagA*  9ndommag/^ea 

Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pagea  restaurtea  at/ou  pailicuiiea 

Pages  diacolourad,  atainad  or  foxed/ 
Pagea  dicolordea,  tachettea  ou  piqutea 

Pagea  detached/ 
Pages  d6tach6es 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  print  variaa/ 
Quallt^  in^gaie  de  I'impreaaion 

inciudea  supplementary  material/ 
Comprend  du  material  suppi^mantaire 

Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  MItion  disponible 

Pagea  wholly  or  partially  obacurad  by  errata 
siipa.  tiaauaa,  etc.,  have  been  ref limed  to 
enaura  tha  bast  possible  image/ 
Lea  pagea  totalement  ou  partieilement 
obacurciea  par  un  fauillet  d'errata,  una  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  M  fiimtea  A  nouveau  de  fa9on  d 
obtenir  la  mellleure  image  poaaibla. 


T» 

P< 
of 
fil 


Oi 
be 
th 
sit 
ot 
fir 
si« 
or 


Tr 
sh 
Tl 

wl 

M 
dil 
en 
bfl 
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rei 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  rMuction  indlquA  ci-deaaoua. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


J 


26X 


30X 


12X 


16X 


aox 


2$X 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  filmed  here  hes  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Library, 

Geological  Survey  of  Canada 


L'exemplaire  film*  fut  reproduit  grAce  d  la 
g4n4roslt6  de: 

BIbliothAque, 

Commiuion  Qfologique  du  Canada 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  In  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Ler  images  suivantes  ont  it6  reproduces  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin.  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet6  de  l'exemplaire  film6.  et  en 
conformity  avt»c  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  Impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  ^»>  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  exemplairas  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimie  sont  filmis  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illus'-'ttion.  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tou»  as  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmis  en  comment  ant  pa'  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinto 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  derni6re  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symbolee  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbols  — ►  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbc     V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  mey  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  Included  In  one  exposure  ere  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hend  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  pouvent  6tre 
filmfo  d  des  taux  de  r6duct'on  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clichi,  il  est  film6  d  partir 
de  I'angle  supirieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas.  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'Images  n6cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
iilustrent  la  mithode. 


t 

2 

3 

4 

9 

6 

G 


AJ 


NORTH    AMERICAN 


.^ 


'^MESOZOIC   AND  C^¥OZOIC 


Geology  and  Pateontology ; 


OR, 


AN  ABRIDGP]D  HISTORY  OF  OUR  KNOWLEDGE  OF  THE 


TRIASSIO,  JURASSIC,  CRETACEOUS  AND  TERTIARY 


FORMATIONS  OF  THIS  CONTINENT. 


r-%    ■     Y\Q,'S.r, 


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By 

S. 

A.    MILLER. 

1 

1     ■■  .  :-     ' 

J      '   >  '        5 
»     1         •    . 

T      )    3   '      .1 

•      1  •  •     • 

■    >   1         r     » 

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'    1        > 

1         4 

CINCINNATI: 

,      '  ■    . 

1                                          PRINTED 

BY  JAMES 

BARCLAY,  269 

VINE 

STREET 

<     ..    '  ' 


188x. 


PREFACE. 


This  work  is  a  historical  review  of  what  we  know  of  the  Triassic, 
Jurassic,  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  formations  of  North  America.  It 
is  not  exhaustive,  yet  it  contains  more  information  in  regard  to  these 
formations  than  will  be  found  in  any  other  single  publication.  In 
compiling  the  work,  the  language  of  the  various  authors,  whose  books 
are  referred  to,  has  been  used  wherever  practicable,  and  when  it  has 
been  abridged  the  substance  has  not  been  changed.  The  author  has 
not  had  an  opportunity  to  specially  study  any  of  these  formations  be- 
yond that  part  which  is  embraced  within  the  period  of  the  drift.  The 
latter  he  has  explored  and  studied,  in  its  distribution,  over  many  cf  the 
States  and  a  considerable  part  of  Canada. 

He  has  undertaken  to  overthrow  the  glacial  hypothesis,  and  now 
submits  the  facts  and  the  conclusions  he  has  drawn  to  the  learned  of 
this  country  and  of  Europe,  and  asks  for  their  verdict.  There  is  this 
further  fact  to  be  remembered.  If  there  was  no  glacial  period  in  North 
America,  there  was  none  in  Europe. 

Only  a  limited  number  of  copies  of  the  book  has  been  published  in 
this  form,  though  it  has  appeared,  in  parts,  in  the  last  three  volumes  of 
the  Journal  op  the  Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  History. 


'I 


2*^40  6" 


IMH 


From  the  Journal  of  *he  Cincinnati  Society  oj  Xatural  HiHtorij,  October,  1879. 


NORTH  AMERICAN  MESOZOTC  AND  CJENOZOtC 
GEOLOGY   AND  PALAEONTOLOGY. 

By  S.  A.  MiLLEU,  Esq. 

The  sciences  of  Geology  and  Puliiiontology  had  not  advanced  many 
stops,  in  Europe,  before  their  growth  had  coinineneed  in  America. 
Their  development,  therefore,  has  been  nearly  contemporaneous  in  the 
two  countries,  though  more  rapid  in  the  early  part  of  the  centur}-^  in 
the  Old  World  than  in  the  New.  Europe  has  had  William  Smith,  J. 
S.  Miller,  Sowerb}',  Murchison,  Lyell,  Brongniart,  D'Orbigny,  Gold- 
fuss,  Sternberg,  Barrande,  and  many  other  distinguished  authors; 
while  America  has  had  McCluro,  Morton,  Vanuxem,  Hitchcock,  Con- 
rad, Leidy,  Hall,  Lesquereux,  Logan,  Billings,  Dawson,  and  others,  or- 
iginal discoverers,  who  possessed  the  philosophical  learning  necessary 
for  the  correct  application  of  the  discov  cries  to  the  advancement  and 
growth  of  the  sciences.  The  facts,  however,  upon  which  these  sciences 
are  based,  and  which  constitute  the  superstructure,  as  now  understood, 
have  been  ascertained,  so  recentl}-,  that  one  would  hardly  undertake 
to  enumerate  a  score  of  the  principal  fathers  of  them,  in  either  country, 
without  mentioning  the  names  of  some  who  are  still  living. 

The  first  society  organized  for  the  advancement  of  science  in  Nortls 
America,  of  which  we  have  any  account,  is  the  American  Philosophical 
Society,  instituted  in  17fi9,  in  Philadelphia.  The  earliest  geological 
papers  that  seem  to  be  worth  mentioning,  appeared  in  the  Transactions 
of  this  Society,  and  though  its  publications  have  not  been  rapid,  they 
continue  to  appear,  and  to  hold  a  high  rank,  whether  devoted  to 
Geologj',  Palaeontology,  or  other  departments  of  science.  The  society 
is  indebted  for  its  organization  to  Benjamin  Franklin.  The  first 
volume  of  the  Transactions  appeared,  in  quarto,  in  1771. 


mgggggm 
fa" 


Mesozoio  and  Cwnozoic  GcoUxjn  tnid  PaloBontoUxjy, 


Belknap  wrote,  upon  the  VVIiite  MoiintiiiuH,  in  1781;  Friitrliiiis,  on 
the  Rock  and  Casciido  of  the  Yonghiogheny,  in  178();  Willianj  Dunbar, 
on  large  nianinialian  bones  found  in  Louisiana,  a  set  of  hunum  teeth 
found  while  digging  a  well  at  the  depth  of  30  to  35  feet;  and  on  the 
Mississippi  river  and  its  delta,  in  1804,  which  was  continued  in  1809. 
B.  II.  Latrobe  described  the  freestone  quarrit's  on  the  Potoujac  and 
Rappahannock,  in  1809;  and  William  McClure,  in  the  same  year,  pub- 
lished his  Observations  on  the  Geology  of  the  United  States,  exi)la:ia- 
tory  of  a  geological  map.  He  divided  the  formations  int()  four  classes, 
viz:  1st,  Primitive  rocks;  2d,  Transition  rocks;  3d,  FUetz  or  Secondary 
rocks;  and  4th,  Alluvial  rocks.  These  classes  ho  separated  on  their 
mineralogical  characters,  and  ho  treated  oftluur  dip  and  extent,  as 
far  as  his  observations  permitted.  And  Thoinas  Jefferson,  who  had 
been  President  of  the  United  States,  described  the  fossil  bones  of  the 
Megalonyx,  in  1818. 

The  American  Academy  of  Art;^  and  Sciences  was  established  in 
Boston,  and  commenced  the  publication  of  its  Memoirs  in  1780.  The 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  of  Philadelphia,  originated  in  1812,  but 
commenced  its  publications  in  1817.  It  soon  collected  an  extensive 
library  of  woiks  upon  Natural  History,  largely  owing  to  the  fine  dona- 
tion by  the  generous  and  distinguished  geologist,  William  ]McClure, 
and  at  once  entered  the  field  as  an  active  society,  alive  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  publication  of  facts,  as  distinguished  from  theoretical 
considerations.  Its  publicatious,  from  the  commencement,  have  oc- 
cupied the  first  rank  in  science,  and  are  now,  absolutely,  indispensa- 
ble to  every  American  naturalist,  and  should  occupy  a  shelf  in  every 
public  library. 

An  idea  of  the  absence  -^f  geological  information,  in  this  country,  in 
1803,  may  be  formed  when  it  is  remembered  that  geology  was  not 
separated  as  a  science  from  mineralogy,  and  that  so  little  was  known 
of  mineralogy  that  it  could  hardly  have  ranked  as  a  science  ;  for  later  in 
life,  Prof.  Silliman,  speaking  of  this  period,  says,  "it  was  a  matter  of 
extreme  difflculty  to  obtain,  among  ourselves  even,  the  names  of  the 
most  common  stones  and  minerals;  and  one  might  inquire  earnestly, 
and  long,  before  he  could  find  any  one  to  identify  even  quartz,  feld- 
spar, or  hornblende,  among  the  simple  minerals;  or  granite,  porphyry, 
or  trap,  among  the  rocks.  We  speak  from  experience,  and  well  re- 
member with  what  impatient,  but  almost  despairing  curiosity,  we  eyed 
the  bleak,  naked  ridges,  which  impended  over  the  valleys  and  plains 
that  were  the  scenes  of  our  youthful  excursions.  In  vain  did  we  doubt 
that  the  glittering  spangles  of  mica,  and  the  still  more  alluring  bril- 


Jfesozoic  and  Cd-tHtzoir  Oeoltiffif  and   PilifonffdiKjy. 


:i 


liancy  <tf'  pyrites,  ^'ave  asHiirtun'O  of  the  fxistciu'c  of  tlio  precious 
inet.'ils  ill  tliosc  sultstanees;  or  that  i\w  eiilliii;^  of  <j;lass  l»y  the  <>ariiel, 
and  l)y  (jiiarlz,  proved  tlial  these  luiiierals  were  the  <liaiiioiid;  l)iit  if 
they  wore  not  preeious  nietalf,  and  if  tlii'y  were  not  diainoiidH,  we  in 
vain  inquired  of  our  eompanions,  and  oven  our  teachers,  what  they 
were." 

An  idea  of  the  low  state  of  I^dreontology,  in  1809,  may  bo  formed 
from  a  letter  written  by  Parker  Cleveland,  Professor  of  JMathomatics 
and  Natural  Philosoiihy,  in  Howdoin  Coilejro,  and  published  in  the 
Memoirs  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  vol.  iii.,  part  1. 
He  had  carefully  watched  the  digging' of  two  wolls  through  sand  and 
into  blue  clay;  one  of  thorn  was  at  a  distance  of  about  20  miles  from 
the  sea,  and  three  or  four  miles  from  the  tide,  in  Cathance  river,  and 
had  an  elevation  estimated  at  70  or  80  feet  above  the  tide.  This  well 
was  dug  20  feet  deep.  The  iirst  10  feet  was  through  sand  and  gravel. 
At  the  depth  of  10  feet  a  stratum  of  blue  clay  was  found,  which  had  the 
appearance  and  smell  of  that  dug  on  flats,  or  near  salt  marshes.  In  this 
clay  he  found  shells;  one  a  clam,  "two  varieties  of  muscle,"  and  one 
large  conical  form,  whose  generic  name  he  knew  rot,  but  the  tame 
genus  he  said  "  is  found  on  our  sea  shores."  The  other  well  was  near 
Brunswick,  80  feet  ab(»vo  tide  water,  in  the  Androscoggin,  and  half 
a  mile  from  the  river.  At  the  dei)th  of  12  feet,  a  four  feet  stratum 
of  clay  was  found  having  the  same  smell,  and  containing  shells  plenti- 
fully interpersed,  similar  to  those  found  in  the  well  near  Cathance  river. 
Ho  thought  that  important  advantages  would  result  from  possessing 
a  geographical  map,  indicating  the  different  species  of  fossil  shells, 
and  the  places  in  which  they  were  found,  especially  where  the  country 
or  coast  might  be  thickl}-  inhabited;  because,  he  says,  "  with  such  a 
map  before  us,  we  should  be  bettor  enabled  to  compare  individual  facts, 
and  hence  to  draw  several  conclusions." 

In  1818,  Prof.  Henjamin  Silliman  commenced  the  publication  of  the 
American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts,  which,  through  his  remarkable 
talent,  and  unbounded  energy,  at  once  took  rank  with  the  scientitic 
journals  of  Europe.  It  has  now  reached  the  119th  volume,  and  the 
aid  it  has  rendered  the  sciences  of  Geology  and  Pahvontology  is  un- 
measured. 

In  1818,  William  McCluro  prepared  an  "Essay  on  the  Formation  of 
Rocks,  or  an  inquiry  into  the  probable  origin  of  their  present  form 
and  structure,"  which  was  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences,  of  Philadelphia,  vol.  i.,  part  2.     He  says: 

"  Concerning  the  nature  and  properties  of  the   great   mass,    which 


Mesozoio  and  Canozoio  Oeoloijy  and  Palaontoloyy, 


constltutos  the  liitorlor  of  the  earth,  we  are  entirely  ij^iiornnt ;  few  of 
our  mines  penetrate  deeper  than  one  fifty  thousandth  part  of  tho 
earth's  diameter,  under  th(^  surfaee,  and  none  of  them  <^o  heyond  one 
twenty-llv(?  thousandth  part  of  that  diameter:  it  would  appear,  there- 
fore, that  any  mere  supi)osition  eoneerninj;- the  aetual  and  present  state 
or  the  nature  of  those  suhstanees,  which  Unxw  the  interior  of  the  earth, 
is  unsupjjorted,  as  yet,  by  any  reasonable  analoj^y;  and  that  all  con- 
jectures, concerning  former  changes,  partial  or  total,  in  the  nature  and 
structure  of  those  substances,  are  removed  still  farther  from  anything 
analogous,  in  our  |)resent  state  of  knowledge." 

"  The  earth  being  flattened,  at  the  poles,  does  not  necessarily  imply 
its  former  fluidity.  We  may  be  permitted  to  doubt  the  analogy  between 
our  experiments  on  l)odies  moving,  in  our  atn)osphere,  and  the  earth's 
motion  in  space;  our  total  ignorance  of  the  nature  of  the  fluid,  which 
occupies  what  Is  usually  called  space,  tends  to  render  the  analogy  in- 
conclusive.'' 

•'  May  not  the  mode  of  casting  patent  shot  be  considered  as  an  ex- 
periment, on  the  form  which  liquid  bodies  would  take  by  a  rotary 
motion?  A  drop  of  melted  lead  let  fall  from  the  height  of  200  feet  is 
completely  globular,  and  not  flattened  at  the  poles;  th-^  lead  might 
be  thrown  with  force  from  the  top  of  the  tower,  which  would  imitate 
the  centrifugal  force,  as  gravitation  does  the  centripetal  force,  and 
make  the  experiment  more  analogous." 

"'ihe  supposition  that  the  earth  was  in  a  fluid  state,  when  it  took 
its  present  form,  loads  to  the  supposition  that  it  was  always  so;  and 
that  fluidity  was  the  original  state  of  the  earth,  kept  so  by  all  the 
general  laws  and  order  of  nature,  all  of  which  general  order  and  laws 
of  nature  must  be  totally  changed  before  the  earth  would  take  a  solid 
form." 

"On  the  supposition  that  the  earth,  previous  to  its  fluid  state,  had 
existed  always  in  a  solid  state,  and  that  some  creation  or  accident 
produced  the  fire  or  water  necessary  to  its  liquefaction,  we  have,  in 
that  case,  first  to  suppose  that  the  order  and  nature  of  the  general 
laws,  which  had  kept  it  always  in  a  solid  state,  were  totally  changed 
to  produce  a  fluid  state  ;  and  that  another  change,  in  the  general  laws, 
which  produced  and  kept  it  in  a  fluid  state,  must  have  taken  place  pre- 
vious to  its  having  become  again  solid." 

•'  It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  uniformity,  order  and  regularity  of 
the  general  laws  of  nature,  which  have  at  any  time  come  within  the 
limits  of  our  observation,  can  warrant  a  supposition  founded  on  such 
complete  changes  in  the  mode  of  action." 


fol 

Sei 
oui 


Mesozoic  and  Cixnozoic   Oeohf/y  and  Palaonfolof/y. 


5 


"As  we  do  ijot  ('(unprclu'iid  either  tlu»  oroiitioii  or  Jinnihilntion  of 
mutter,  by  the  origin  of  loeks,  we  mean  tiie  hiHt  change  whicli  pro- 
dneed  their  piesent  form,  and  tlie  agents  that  natnre  employed  to  give 
thom  tluit  Corm,  or  elfeetiiate  tiiat  eliange." 

He  divided  tlie  rocks  into  three  classes  (not,  however,  withont  ex- 
pressing grave  doubts  as  to  the  correctness  of  Ids  conclusions),  ns 
follows: 

1st  Class — of  Neptunian  oiigin.  1st  Order:  Sand  beds,  Gravel  beds, 
Sea  salt,  Sandstone,  Pudding-stone,  lirown  coal.  Hog  Iron  ore.  Calcare- 
ous tufa,  (Calcareous  depositions,  and  Silex  from  hot  springs. 

2d  Order,  resembling  in  structure,  position  or  component  parts,  the 
Ist  order,  the  evidence  of  their  origin  resting  on  direct  and  positive  an- 
alogy: Coal,  Cly[)sum,  ChalU,  ('()m|)act  rnnestone,  Sandstone,  Pudding- 
stone.  RocU-Salt,  OUl  Red  Sandstone,  Griiywacke  and  Gray  wacke  slate, 
Transition  sandstone,  Transition  limestone,  Transition  gypsum.  Tran- 
sition clayslate.  Anthracite  and  Siliceous  schist. 

2d  (ylass — Volcanic  origin.  1st  Order,  thrown  out  of  active  volca- 
noes, and  resting  on  the  evidence  of  our  senses:  Compact  lava.  Porous 
lava,  Porphyritic  lava,  Scoria.  Mud  lava.  Obsidian  or  Volcanic  glass, 
Pumice-stone  and  cinders. 

2d  Order,  resembling  the  1st  order  in  structure,  position,  and  com- 
ponent parts,  having  the  renmins  of  craters,  with  currents  of  lava  di- 
verging from  them;  though  the  fire  which  may  have  foruied  them  is 
now  extinct,  the  evidence  of  their  origin  resting  on  direct  and  positive 
analogy:  Basalt,  Trap  formation  called  by  Werner  the  newest  F'la»t8 
Trap  formation,  Pitchstone,  Pearlstone,  Porphyry  attending  the  trap 
as  above,  and  Clinkstone. 

3d  Order,  where  the  rocks  re.a'^mblc  the  second  in  texture  and  com- 
ponent parts,  but  the  proof  of  their  origin  resting  on  a  more  distant 
analogy:  Basalt,  Trap,  Pitchstone,  rorphyry,  and  Clinkstone. 

3d  Class — the  origin  doubtful,  resembling  a  little,  the  2d  order  of 
the  Ist  and  2d  classes,  but  the  analogy  neither  direct  nor  positive, 
amounting  only  to  probable  conjecture.  1st  Order:  such  rocks  as 
probable  conjecture  would  incline  to  place  in  the  Neptunian  origin: 
Gneiss,  Mica  slate,  Clay  slate.  Primitive  slate  and  limestone. 

2d  Order,  such  rocks  as  probable  conjecture  would  Incline  to  place 
in  the  volcanic  origin:  Hornblende,  Porphyry,  Greenstone,  Slenite  and 
Granite. 

The  greatest  good  that  this  author  accomplished  ma}'  have  resulted 
from  constantly  teaching  that  it  Is  through  observation,  and  not  through 
the  Imagination,  that  a  knowledge  of  Geology  can  be  acquired.   He  said : 


i^ 


6 


Mesozoic  and  Camozofc  Geology  and  Paloi ontology. 


"The  short  period  of  time  that  mankind  seem  to  have  been  capable 
of  correct  observation,  and  tlie  mir.'.te  segment  of  the  immense  circle 
of  nature's  operations,  that  has  revolved  during  the  comparatively- 
short  period,  renders  all  speculations  on  tho  origin  of  the  crust  of  the 
earth  mere  conjectures,  founded  on  distant  and  obscure  analogy.  Were 
it  possible  to  separate  this  metaphysical  part,  from  the  collection  and 
classification  of  facts,  the  truth  and  nccuracy  of  c^  servation  would  be 
much  augmented,  and  the  progress  of  knowledge  much  more  certain 
and  uniform;  but  the  pleasure  of  indulging  the  imagination  is  so  su- 
perior to  that  derived  from  the  labor  and  drudgery  of  observation — 
the  self  love  of  mankind  is  so  flattered  by  the  intoxicating  idea  of  act- 
ing a  part  in  the  creation — that  we  can  scarcely  expect  to  find  any 
great  collection  of  facts,  untinged  by  the  false  coloring  of  systems." 

Very  few  facts,  which  now  constitute  the  sciences  of  Geology  and 
Palaeontology  were,  at  this  time,  known,  and  even  later,  theories  and 
unwarranted  assumptions  constituted  the  greater  part  of  what  was 
taught  as  Geology,  notwithstanding  the  exhortations  of  JNEcClure, 
urging  empirical  study  as  against  the  injurious  speculations  and  pre- 
tensions founded  upon  the  imagination,  or  in  the  zeal  to  suppress  in- 
vestigation, because  it  seemed  inimical  to  the  teachings  of  the  clergy. 
As  a  sample  of  what  was  taught,  we  may  quote  from  Prof.  Amos 
Eaton's  "  Index  to  the  Geology  of  the  Northern  States,"  published  in 
1820. 

He  says,  page  223  : 

"  I  think  I  ma}'  say,  with  confidence,  that  the  remains  of  two  genera 
of  animals,  Anomia  and  Pecten,  form,  at  the  least,  two  thirds  of  all 
the  secondary  limerocks  in  North  America.  It  may  be  deemed  arro- 
gant to  include  all  the  territory  of  this  vast  continent.  But  it  has 
been  my  good  fortune  to  see  specimens  of  this  rock  from  Canada  to 
Mexico,  and  from  Hudson's  river  to  the  Mississippi,  taken  from  numei'- 
ous  localities.  Perhaps  I  ought  not,  however,  from  these  examinations, 
to  infer  that  there  may  not  be  compact  limestone  of  a  great  extent  made 
up  of  different  organic  remains  west  of  the  Rocky  mountain." 

Again : 

"Moses  says,  the  Lord  made  'every  herb  of  the  field  before  it  grew,' 
— 'whose  seed  is  in  itself,'  etc.  This  accords  with  the  well  known 
fact,  that  new  plants  are  still  springing  up  from  seeds,  probably 
planted  at  the  creation,  wherever  forest.s  are  cut  ;iway  and  other  steps 
taken  to  prepare  particular  patches  of  earth  for  giving  growth  to  such 
particuhir  plants.  It  is  even  said  that  pulverized  rocks  have  been 
known  to  afford  seeds,  and  to  give  growth  to  new  plants.  Perhaps  this 
latter  fact  is  not  well  authenticated." 


Jlesozoic  and  Canozoic  Geoloyy  and  Pahuontoloiiy. 


In  short,  prior  to  about  1820,  but  iictle  was  known  of  North  Ameri- 
can Geology  and  Palaeontology,  and  except  as  a  matter  of  historical 
curiosity,  rather  than  instruction,  we  need  not  seek  these  sciences  in 
earlier  publications. 

The  Mesozoic  and  Cienozoic  rocks,  to  which  this  essay  will  l)e  confined, 
constitute  the  superior  one  fourth  part  of  the  geological  column,  in 
the  sedimentary  strata,  of  the  continent;  the  other  three  fourths  belong 
to  Palaeozoic  age.  As  a  striking  illustration:  the  ui^turned  paHozoic 
strata,  in  the  little  state  of  New  Hampshire,  reveal  a  thickness  twice 
that  furnished  by  the  INIesozoic  and  Cienozoic  rocks  thro  ughout  their 
extensive  distribution  to  the  remotest  parts  of  the  continent. 

It  will  be  observed  in  the  sequel,  that  I  have  followed  the  chronologi- 
cal order  of  discover}^,  as  near  as  practicable,  with  a  view  of  present- 
ing the  history,  the  development  and  the  growth  of  these  sciences, 
as  well  as  the  facts,  within  the  scope  considered,  upon  which  they  are 
now  supposed  to  rest. 

First,  we  will  pursue  ^\\q.  IMesozoic  rocks  and  fossils,  and  afterward 
the  Caenozoic. 

THE  MP^L^OZOIC  AGE. 

The  Mesozoic  age  is  divided  into  three  periods,  beginning  with  the 
earliest,  as  follows: 

1.  The  Triassic  Period. 

2.  The  Jurassic  Period. 

3.  The  Cretaceous  Period. 

The  name  Triassic  was  given  to  the  1st  Period  in  allusion  to  a  three- 
fold division,  which  it  presents  in  Germany.  The  Jurassic  derives  its 
name  from  the  Jura  mountains  of  Switzerland ;  and  the  name  Cretace- 
ous is  derived  from  creta,  chalk. 

It  will  be  convenient  to  consider  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic  together, 
because  the  line  of  separation,  at  many  places,  still  remains  a  matter 
of  doubt,  and  because  the  rocks  at  one  place,  at  one  time,  have  been 
considered  as  Triassic,  and  at  another  as  Jurassic,  and  even  now  great 
uncertainty  exists  as  to  their  correct  classilication. 

TRIASSIC    AND    JURASSIC. 

In  1832,  Prof.  Edward  Hitchcock*  described  the  New  Red  Sandstone 
which  extends  across  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  on  both  sides  of 
the  Connecticut  river. 

In  1833,*  he  referred  all  the  sandstone  in  the  valle}'  of  the  Connecti- 
cut to  the  age  of  the  New  Red  Sandstone  of  Europe.     The  opinion  was 


"■'  Geo.  of  Mass. 


8 


Mesozoic  and  CcBuozoic  Geology  and  Paloiontologi 


fortified  by  the  organic  remains  which  had  been  collected  at  that  time, 
as  well  as  by  the  mineral  character  of  the  rocks.  He  described  the 
rocks  as  micaceous  sandstone,  variegated  sandstone,  brecciated  sand- 
stone, shales,  argillaceous  slate  and  limestones.  He  discussed  the  dip, 
direction  and  thickness  of  the  strata,  and  the  occurrence  of  valuable 
minerals. 

In  1836,*  he  described  iVom  Massachusetts,  Ornithichnites  giyanteus, 
now  Brontozoimi  giganicum,  O,  ttiherosus^  and  0.  tiiberosus,  var.  du- 
bius,  now  B.  loxony,-;,  and  B.  sillima,>ium,  0.  iiigens,  now  Tridentipes 
ingens,  0.  diversus,  now  Tridentipss  elegans,  O.  minirmis,  now  Argo- 
zoum  minimum.,  O.  palmatus^  and  0.  ietradactylus. 

In  1839,  Prof  H.  D.  Rogersf  described  the  Red  Sandstone  of  Penn- 
S3'lvania,  which  stretches  through  the  central  and  northern  portions 
in  a  long  and  irregular  tract,  from  New  Jersey  to  Maryland.  It  is 
found  in  the  vicinity  of  Reading,  and  near  the  Potomac  river,  from 
which  place  is  quarried  the  famous  Red  Sandstone  used  in  Wash- 
ington city.  Prof  Rogers  proposed  to  call  this  the  "  JMiddle  Sec- 
ondary Red  Sandstone  formation,"  because  it  is  higher  than  the  Coal 
Measures,  and  below  the  Cretaceous  Green  Sand  of  New  Jersey. 

In  1841,  W.  C.  Rodlieldj  described,  from  the  Connecticut  Valley,  Fal- 
ceoniscus  macropterus,  now  Ischyptenis  inacrr  oterus,  P.  agassizi,  P. 
ovatus,  Catoptenis  anguilliform.is,  C.  parvnlus,  and  C.  macrurus,  now 
Diciyopyge  macriira. 

In  the  same  year.  Prof  Hifcchcocli;§  said  the  New  Red  Sandstone, 
extending  from  New  Haven  to  the  north  line  of  INIass.,  in  Northfield, 
occupies  a  narrow  s^Miclinal  trough,  having  a  width  of  about  20  miles, 
from  East  Hampton,  in  Massachusetts,  to  the  Sound  at  New  Haven; 
but  from  P^ast  Hampton  to  Northfield  a  width  of  only  G  or  7  miles.  He 
described  Fiiooi'des  Gonneciicucensis,  F.  shepardi.,  Sauroidichnites 
harratti,  S.  heleroclitus,  now  Ancyropus  '!ieteroclitus,8.  minitans,  now 
Plectropterna  minitans,  S.  longipes,  S.  palmatas.,  and  S.  polemarchus, 
now  Polemarchus  gigas.  He  used  the  word  Sauroidichnites  as  a  gen- 
eric name,  but  described  it  as  the  name  of  a  suborder  under  the  class 
Ichnolite.  He  also  described  Omithoidichnites  as  a  sub-order,  and 
used  it  as  a  generic  name,  and  described  numerous  species  under  it. 
These  names  have,  however,  been  abandoned,  and  the  species  have 
also  been  abandoned  or  referred  to   genera   properly  defined.     The 


'■'  Am.  Jour.  Sei.  and  Arts,  vol.  xxix. 
t  3d  Ann.  Rep.,  Pa, 
X  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  vol.  xli. 
§  Geo.  of  Mass. 


Mesozoic  and  Camozoic  Geology  and  Paloiontoloyy.  9 

Ornithoid ichnites  are  0.  giganteus,  0.  tuberosus,  0,  expansus,  0.  cune- 
atus,  0.  parvulus,  O.  ingens,  0.  elegaus,  O.  deani,  0.  tenuis,  0.  macro- 
dactylus,  O.  divaricatus,  0.  isodactyltis,  O,  delicatulus,  0.  minimus,  0. 
gracilior,  aud  0.  tetradactylas.  He  afterward,  l)efore  the  Association 
of  American  Geologists  and  Naturalists,  described  some  species  under 
these  names,  which  he  subsequently  referred  to  other  genera. 

In  J  842,  Prof.  J.  G.  Percival*  described  the  existence  of  these  rocks 
in  two  places  in  Connecticut,  as  follows: 

The  larger  secondary'  formation  extends  from  Morris  Cove,  on  the 
east  side  of  New  Haven  Harbor,  on  the  south,  to  the  north  end  of  North- 
field  village,  in  Mass.,  on  the  north,  a  distance  of  nearly  80  miles.  Its 
greatest  width,  near  the  central  part  of  the  basin,  exceeds  20  miles. 
This  basin  is  entirel}-  surrounded  by  Primary  rocks,  except  at  New 
Haven  Harbor,  where,  however,  Primary  rocks  form  the  two  points  on 
the  opposite  sides  of  the  basin.  The  smaller  secondary  formation  ex- 
tends 6  to  7  miles  from  south  to  north,  and  at  its  widest  point  scarcely 
exceeds  two  miles  in  breadth,  and  is  about  equally  included  in  the 
towns  of  Woodbury  and  Southbur3^  It  forms  a  small  isolated  tract, 
nearly  in  the  center  of  that  part  of  the  Western  Primary,  within  the 
limits  of  the  State,  and  nearly  15  miles  west  of  the  larger  seconda'y 
formation.  The  rocks  of  both  these  formations  consist  of  Red  Sand- 
stones, Conglomerates  and  Shales,  and  the  physical  characters  and 
organic  remains  indicate  a  peculiar  relation  to  the  New  Red  Sandstone 
of  Europe. 

In  1843,  Prof.  W.  W.  Matherf  described  these  rocks  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  as  follows : 

The  New  Red  Sandstone  occupies  that  portion  of  Rockland  county, 
from  Grassy  point  along  the  base  of  the  Highlands  to  New  Jersey,  and 
eastward  to  the  Hudson,  but  a  portion  of  its  area  is  covered  over  by 
trap  rocks.  It  has  also  been  found  in  a  small  area  in  Richmond 
county.  In  color,  it  varies  from  chocolate  brown,  through  brick-red 
and  gra}'  to  white;  in  texture,  it  varies  from  pebbly  conglomerate, 
through  common  sandstone,  fissile  and  micaceous  sandstone,  to  shale; 
and  in  composition,  from  perfectly  siliceous  to  an  argillo-calcareous 
marl.  Where  the  trappean  rocks  have  cut  through  the  strata,  or  have 
spread  laterall}'  between  them,  their  texture  and  appearance  are  much 
modified,  and  appear  to  have  been  subjected  to  the  action  of  heat, 
which  has  partly  melted  them,  or  rendered  them  more  compact  and 
hard,  like  a  hard-burnt  brick,  or  has  made  them  metalliferous. 


*  Geo.  of  Conn. 


t  Geo.  of  N.  Y. 


10 


Mesczoic  and  Cmnozoic  Geology  and  Pi>,la'.ontology. 


In  the  same  year,  Prof.  W.  B.  Rogers*  described,  from  the  Trias  of 
Eastern  Virginia,  Equisefum  arumliniforme^  Calamites  planicostnttts, 
Tceniopteris  magnifolia,  Zmnites  obtusifolins,  and  Z.  tenuistriatus. 

In  1847,  Sir  Charles  L3'ellf  described  the  Triassic  coal  field,  on  the 
James  river,  near  Richmond,  Virginia,  as  follows:  The  tract  of  country 
occupied  by  the  crystalline  or  hypogene  rocks,  which  runs  parallel  to 
the  Alleghany  mountains,  and  on  their  eastern  side  is  in  this  part  of 
Virginia  about  70  miles  broad;  in  the  midst  of  this  space  the  coal-field 
occurs  in  a  depression  of  the  granitic  and  other  hypogene  rocks,  on 
which  the  coal  resfs,  and  by  which  it  is  surrounded,  along  its  outcrop. 
The  length  of  the  coal-field,  from  north  to  south,  is  about  26  miles,  and 
its  breadth  varies  from  4  to  12  miles.  The  James  river  flows  through 
the  middle  of  it,  about  15  miles  from  its  northern  extremity,  while  the 
Appomattox  traverses  it  near  its  southern  borders;  on  its  eastern  side 
it  is  distant  about  13  miles  from  the  city  of  Richmond;  It  occupies  an 
elliptical  area,  the  beds  lying  in  a  trough,  the  lowest  of  them  usually 
highly  inclined,  where  the}^  crop  out  along  the  margin  of  the  basin, 
while  the  strata  higher  in  the  series,  which  appear  in  the  central  part 
of  the  basin,  are  very  nearly  horizontal.  The  general  strike  is  about 
N.N.E.  and  S.S.W.,  while  that  of  the  nearesr  ridges  of  the  Appala- 
chian chain  is  about  N.E.  and  S.W. 

A  great  portion  of  these  coai  measures  consists  of  quartzose  sand- 
stone, and  coarse  grit,  some  of  the  beds,  in  the  lower  part  of  the  series 
resembling  granite  or  syenite,  being  entirely  composed  of  the  detritus 
of  the  neighboring  granitic  and  syenitie  rocks.  Dark  carbonaceous 
shales  and  clays,  occasionally  charged  with  iron  ores,  abound  in  the 
proximity  of  the  coal  seams,  and  numerous  impressions  of  plants, 
chiefiy  ferns  and  zamites,  are  met  with  in  shales,  together  with  flattened 
and  prostrate  stems  of  Calamites  and  Equisetum.  These  last,  how- 
ever, the  Calamites  and  P^quisetum,  are  very  commonly  met  with  in  a 
vertical  position,  more  or  less  compressed  perpendicularly.  That  the 
greater  number  of  Calamites  standing  erect  in  the  beds  above  and 
between  the  seams  or  beds  of  coal,  which  I  saw  at  points  many  miles 
distant  from  each  other,  have  grown  in  the  places  where  they  are  now 
buried  in  sand  and  mud,  I  entertain  no  doubt.  This  fact  would  imply 
the  gradual  accumulation  of  the  coal  measures  during  a  slow  and  re- 
peated subsidence  of  the  whole  region. 

The  coal  seams  have  hitherto  been  all  found  at  or  near  the  bottom  of 
the  series,  and  the  plants  in  beds  below  or  between  them,  or  immediate- 


'•'  Trans.  Ass.  Am.  Geo.  and  Nat. 


t  Quar.  Jour.  Geo.  ScL,  vol.  iii. 


Mesozoic  and  Coinozoic  Geology  and  Pala;oniology. 


11 


ly  overlying.  One  or  two  species  of  shells  (Posidonomya?)  also  occur 
in  the  same  part  of  the  series,  at  a  small  height  above  the  coal-seams, 
and  above  these  a  great  number  of  fossil  fish,  chiefly  referable  to  two 
nearly  allied  species  of  a  genus,  very  distinct  from  any  ichthyolite 
hitherto  discovered  elsewhere.  Above  these  fossiliforous  beds,  which 
probably  never  exceed  400  or  500  feet  in  thicknes!?,  a  great  succes- 
sion of  grits,  sandstone  and  shales  of  unknown  depth  occur.  They 
have  yielded  no  coal,  nor  as  yet  any  organic  remains,  and  no  specula- 
tor has  been  bold  enough  to  sink  a  shaft  through  them,  as  it  is  feared 
that  toward  the  central  parts  of  the  basin  they  might  have  to  pass 
through  2000  or  2500  feet  of  sterile  measures  before  reaching  the 
fundamental  coal  seams. 

The  coal  is  separated  almost  everj'where  into  three  distinct  beds,  and 
sometimes  into  five.  The  upper  bed  is  the  thickest,  except  in  a  few 
places  where  a  thin  layer  of  coal  is  found  above  it.  In  some 
places  the  main  seam  of  coal  is  from  30  to  40  feet  thick,  and  at  Black- 
heath  it  is  seen  actually  to  touch  the  fundamental  granite,  or  is  parted 
from  it  only  by  an  inch  or  two  of  shale. 

A  section  at  the  Midlothian  Pit,  half  a  mile  south  of  Blackheath,  on 
the  eastern  outcrop  of  the  coal,  is  as  follows:  Sandstone  and  shale, 
570  feet;  slate  with  calamites,  1^  feet;  sandstone  and  shale,  43  10.12 
feet;  sandstone  with  calamites,  8  feet;  sandstone  and  slaty  shale,  48 
feet;  slate  and  long  vegetable  seems,  2^  feet;  sandstone,  6|^  feet;  slate 
with  calamites,  h\  feet;  sandstone,  14  feet;  black  rock,  13  feet;  slate, 
5  feet;  main  coal,  36  feet;  sandstone  not  laminated,  5  feet;  slate,  4 
feet;  coal,  1  foot;  slate,  3  feet;  sandstone  or  grit,  7  feet.  Total,  773 
10-12  feet.  This  rests  upon  granite  of  unknown  depth.  Some  deduc- 
tions must  be  made  for  the  thickness  of  the  beds  on  account  of  the  in- 
clination at  an  angle  of  20  degrees. 

The  unevenness  of  the  granite  floor  is  extremel}'  great,  and  the  thick- 
ness of  the  coal  seams  quite  variable.  The  disturbances  have  been 
extremely  great,  and  dikes  of  greenstone  occur  in  some  places  20  feet  in 
thickness.  Some  of  the  upper  beds  of  coal  have  been  reduced  to  coke, 
by  being  deprived  of  their  volatile  matter,  while  others  below  remain 
unaltered  and  bituminous.  This  is  accounted  for  on  the  ground  that 
the  greenstone,  although  intrusive,  has  made  its  wa}'  between  the 
strata  like  a  conformable  deposit,  and  has  driven  the  gaseous  matter 
from  the  upper  coal,  while  its  influence  has  not  extended  to  lower 
seams.  A  remarkable  example  of  coke,  in  a  bed  eight  feet  in  thick- 
ness, occurs  at  Edge-hill,  a  locality  between  five  and  six  miles  north 
of  James   river,  and  ten  miles  north    of  Blackheath,  being  on  the 


12 


Mesozoic  and  Cwnozoic  Geology  and  Paloiontology. 


eastern  outcrop  of  the  basin,  and  within  500  yards  of  the  granite. 
The  measures  passed  through  above  the  8  feet  bed  of  coke,  are  110 
feet  thick,  including  a  conformable  bed  of  blue  basalt,  16  feet  thick. 
The  shale  immediatel}'  below  the  trap  is  white  for  11  feet,  and  then 
25  feet  of  dark,  leafj'  shale  succeed,  below  which  comes  the  bed  of 
coke,  resting  on  white  shale;  and  lower  down,  coal-measures  with  two 
seams  of  inferior  coal,  each  about  4 or  5  feet  thick.  The  shale,  47  feet 
thick,  interposed  between  the  basa't  and  the  coke,  exhibits  so  many 
polished  surfaces  or  slickeusides,  and  is  so  much  jointed  and  cracked, 
and  in  some  places  disturbed  and  tilted,  that  we  may  probably  attri- 
bute the  change  from  coal  to  coke,  not  so  much  to  the  heating  agency 
of  the  intrusive  basalt,  as  to  its  mechanical  effect  in  breaking  up  the 
integrity  of  the  beds,  and  rendering  them  permeable  to  water  or  the  gases 
of  decomposing  coal.  In  some  places,  in  the  same  district,  where  the 
upper  part  of  a  seam,  is  coke,  the  lower  is  coal,  and  there  is  sometimes 
a  gradation  from  the  one  to  the  other,  and  sometimes  a  somewhat  ab- 
rupt separation. 

In  the  same  year,  C.  J.  F.  Bunbury*  described,  from  North  Carolina, 
Neuropteris  Imna'ifob'n,  Pecopteris  bullata,  FUicites  Jimbriatus,  and 
Zamites  gramineus.  And  Prof.  Hitchcockf  described,  from  Massa- 
chusetts, Brontozoum  moodi,  and  B.  parallelum.  He  also  discussed 
the  Trap  Tuff  or  Volcanic  grit  of  the  Connecticut  valley,  with  the 
bearing  of  its  history  upon  the  Trap  Rock  and  the  Red  Sandstone. 

In  1848,  Prof.  J.  W.  DawsonJ  describ  ;d  the  New  Red  Sandstone 
of  Nova  Scotia,  which  extends  on  the  north  side  of  Cobequid  bay, 
from  Moose  river  to  the  point  at  the  month  of  North  river,  and  on 
the  south  side,  from  the  mouth  of  Sluibenacadie  to  the  mouth  of 
North  river.  It  rests  upon  carboniferous  strata,  and,  in  some  places, 
presents  cliffs  rising  to  an  eminence  of  400  feet.  It  is  also  extensively 
developed  at  Blomidon,  in  the  valley  of  Cornwallis,  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Bay  of  Fundy.  and  at  other  places.  This  sandstone  appears  to 
have  been  deposited  in  an  arm  of>the  sea.  somewhat  resembling,  in 
its  general  form,  the  southern  part  of  the  present  Bay  of  Fundy, 
but  rather  longer  and  wider.  This  ancient  bay  was  bounded  by  dis- 
turbed Carboniferous  and  Silurian  strata.  The  evidences  of  volcanic 
action  are  numerous,  and  in  some  places  showing  great  quantities  of 
melted  rock  brought  to  the  surface,  without  altering  the  soft  arenace- 
ous beds  through  which  it  has  been  poured,  and  whose  surface  it  has 


'  Quar.  Jour.  Geo.  Soc,  vol.  iii. 

t  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts.  2d  Ser.,  vol.  iv. 

t  Quar.  Jour.  Geo.  Soc,  vol.  iv. 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Oeoloyy  and  Paleontology. 


13 


overflowed.     The  Sandstone  contains  no  valuable    minerals,   and    no 
fossils  had  then   been  detected  in   it. 

In  J  853,  Isaac  Lea*  described,  from  the  Triassic  of  Lehigh  county, 
Pennsylvania,   ('lepsysaurus  pennsyloanicns. 

In  1854,  Dr.  Joseph  Leidyf  described,  from  the  Triassic  of  trince 
Edward  Island,  Bathygnathus  horealis. 

In  1855,  Prof.  J.  W.  Dawson  described  Prince  Edward  Island, 
which  stretches  for  125  miles  along  the  northern  coast  of  Nova  Scotia 
and  New  Brunswick,  has  everywhere  a  low,  undulating  surface,  and 
consists  almost  entirely  of  soft  red  sandstone  and  arenaceous  shale, 
much  resembling  the  new  red  of  Nova  Scotia,  and  like  it  having  the 
component  particles  of  the  rock  united  by  a  calcareous  cement.  In 
some  places  the  calcareous  matter  has  been  in  sufficient  abundance 
to  form  bands  of  impure  limestone,  usually  thin  and  arenaceous.  Over 
the  greater  part  of  the  island  these  beds  dip  at  small  angles  to  the 
northward,  with,  however,  large  undulations  to  the  south,  which  prob- 
ably cause  the  same  beds  to  be  repeated  in  the  sections  on  the  opposite 
sides  of  the  island. 

In  the  same  3^ear,  Dr.  E.  Hitchcock,  jr.;};  described  Clathropteris  rec- 
fiusGulus,  from  the  sandstone  of  Mt,  Tom,  in  Eastharapton,  Mass.,  of 
the  age  of  the  lower  Jurassic. 

In  1856,  Prof.  E.  Emmonsg  described,  from  the  Lower  Triassic  of  the 
Deep  and  Dan  river  beds  of  North  Carolina,  Chondrites  gracilis,  C. 
interruptus,  C.  ramosus,  Gymnocaulus  alternatus,  Equisetum  coliimn- 
aroides,  Dictuocaulus  striatus,  Itutiodon  carolinensis,  Clepsysaiirus 
leai,  Palaiosauriis  carolinensis,  P.  sulcatus  and  Posidonia  ovalis,  now 
referred  to  the  genus  Estheria,  and  from  the  Upper  Triassic  of  the 
Deep  and  Dan  river  beds,  Strangeritesobliqitus,  Acrostichites  oblongus, 
Pecopteris  carolinensis,  P.  falcata,  Pterozamites  decussatus,  Cyca- 
dites  aciitus,  C.  longi/olius,  Znmites  graminioides,  Podozamites 
lanceolatns,  P.  longifolius,  Lepacyclotes  circularis,  L.  ellipticusi 
Walchia  diffusa,  W.  longi/olia.  Catamites  disjnnctus,  Sphenoglosswn 
quadrifolium,  and  Posidonia  nialticostata,  and  P.  triangularis,  which 
are  now  regarded  as  svnonvms  or  varieties  only  of  Estheria  ovalis. 

And  in  1857||  he  described,  from  North  Carolina,  Catamites  pnnc- 
tatus,  Walchia  angustifolia,  W.  variabilis,  W.  brevifolia,  W.  gracilis, 
Sphenopteris  egyptiaca,  Cyclopteris  obscura.  Odontopteris  tenaifolia. 


"  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  2d  Ser.,  vol.  ii. 
t  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  2d  Ser.  vol.  ii. 
t  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  2d  Ser.,  vol.  xx. 
g  N.  Carolina  Sur. 
II  Am.  Geo.,  pt.  6. 


u 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoio  Geology  and  Palwontolof/y. 


Pterozamites  gracilis,  P.  obtusus,  P.  linenri-t,  P.  spatulatns,  Dioonites 
linearis,  Stranyerites  planus,  Pterophyllnm  rohustum,  Noeggerathia 
striata,  Comcphyllum,  cristatum,  Arnblypteius  ornatus,  Rabdiolepis 
speciosus,  Microdns  hii'is,  Pnhvonornis  strnthionoidcs,  anil  Dromath- 
c/'«/<m  siVves^re,  the  most  ancient  mammalian  remains  yet  found  upon 
the  continent. 

In  1857,  T.  A.  Conrad*  described,  fiom  the  Triassic  black  shale  at 
Phnenixvillc,  Pennsylvania,  Myacites  pennsylvanicus. 

In  1858,  Meek  and  Haydenf  described,  from  the  Jurassic  of  the 
Black  Hills,  Pentacrinus  asteriscus,  Lingula  brevirostra,  Avicula 
tennicost'ita,  Mytihts  pertemiis,  Area  inornata,  now  Qrammatodon 
inornatus,  Panopwa  subeUiptica,  now  Myacites  subellipticus,  Am- 
monites cordi/orniis,  A.  henryi^  and  Belemnifes  densus. 

Prof.  Hitchcock  made  his  report  on  the  Ichnolo<^v  of  Nerv  England, 
being  "  A  report  on  the  Sandstone  of  the  Connecticut  valley,  especially 
its  Fossil  Footmarks,  made  to  the  government  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
Massachusetts."  This  work  contains  a  bibliography  of  North  Ameri- 
can Fossil  Footmarks;  the  history  of  the  discoveries  of  the  tracks;  a 
discussion  of  the  geological  position  of  the  Connecticut  river  sand- 
stone, and  the  evidences  tending  to  prove  the  Jurassic  Age  of  at  least 
the  upper  half  of  the  strata,  with  geological  sections  across  the  valley, 
showing  that  in  general  the  dip  is  easterly,  varying  fron  5°  to  50°. 

The  sandstone  of  the  Connecticut  valley  extends  from  Northfleld, 
in  the  Northern  part  of  Massachusetts,  across  the  latter  State,  and 
Conner  llcut  to  Long  Island  Sound,  a  distance  of  105  miles.  The  great- 
est width  is  at  the  mouth  of  the  Farmington  river,  though  Hitchcock's 
Springfield  section  was  taken  where  the  width  is  nearly  as  great. 
Several  I'anges  of  trap  rock  (greenstone,  amygdaloid,  and  volcanic 
grit),  traverse  the  sandstone  longitudinally,  having  for  the  most  part  a 
northeasterl}'  trend,  and  being  generally  in  the  form  of  interstratified 
beds  or  masses.  Along  the  west  side  of  the  valley,  there  is  a  coarse, 
thick-bedded  sandstone,  whose  prevailing  color  is  red,  but  which  is 
sometimes  mottled,  and  near  the  trap  and  the  hypozoic  rocks,  some- 
times nearly  white.  This  sandstone  underlies  the  trap.  Immediately 
above  the  trap,  on  the  east  side  of  the  valley,  the  rocks  consist  of  inter- 
stratified red  and  black  shales,  volcanic  grit,  micaceous  sandstone, 
compact,  fetid  blue  and  gray  limestone,  and  in  some  places  coarse  sand- 
stone and  conglomerate.     It  is  in  the  shales  and  sandstones  lying  im- 


*  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  ix. 
t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 


Mesozoic  and  C'wnozoi'c  Geology  and  Palceontoloijy. 


15 


mediately  above  the  trap,  with  very  few  exceptions,  that  the  orj^auic  re- 
mains— the  flshes,  the  tracks,  and  plants — a.e  found.  His  sections 
sliow  the  thickness  oftlie  sandstone  above  and  below  the  trap,  as 
follows: 

Feet. 

Turner's  Falls  section,  above  ....    ...   4,190 

below 7,788 

Mettawampe  section,  above 1,584 

"  "         below 5,283 

Mount  Tom  section,   above 8,102 

"         below         5.115 

Agawam  and  Chicopee  or  Springfield  section,  above.  .  .11,500 
"        "  "        "  ''  "         below.  .  .   8,1.28 

The  rock  below  the  trap  seems,  from  the  evidences  adduced,  to  be  of 
Triassic  Age.  He  argues  that  the  strata  of  sandstone  were  not  depos- 
ited in  their  present  inclined  position,  and  subsequently  elevated,  and 
that  the  sandstone  was  not  elevated  or  tilted  up  by  the  eruption  of  the 
trap  rock;  but,  on  ihe  contrary,  that  the  lower  beds  of  sandstone  vvere 
deposited,  and  perhaps  somewhat  tilted  up,  when  the  trap  was  ejected 
from  beneath,  and  spread  over  the  upper  part  of  the  strata,  and  that 
afterward  the  work  of  depositing  the  sandstone  was  resumed,  and  that 
which  lies  above  the  trap  laid  down.  New  outbursts  of  the  trap,  how- 
ever, occurred  at  subsequent  periods,  but  less  in  quantity,  as  if  the 
eruptive  force  were  dying  out.  This  is  followed  by  a  very  learned  essay 
upc"  the  constant  and  distinctive  characters  in  the  feet  of  animals, 
and  the  application  of  the  rules  laid  down,  to  the  footmarks,  which  he 
described  and  illustrated.  He  called  these  tracks  Lithichnozoa — stone- 
track  animals;  or  animals  made  known  by  their  tracks  in  stone. 

The  longest  trough,  and  greatest  exposure,  in  the  Eastern  States,  be- 
gins at  Stony  Point,  on  the  Hudson,  and  extending  across  New  Jer- 
sey, Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  reaches  Culpepper  county,  in  Vir- 
ginia. It  has  a  length  of  about  350  miles,  and  though  frequently  nar- 
rowing to  a  breadth  of  four  or  five  miles,  it  expands,  in  New  Jersey,  to 
a  width  of  about  thirty  six  miles.  The  character  ot  the  deposit  very 
much  resembles  that  of  the  Connecticut  valley.  The  other  Virginia 
deposit  exists  in  Henry,  Pittsylvania,  Halifax,  Prince  Edward  and 
Buckingham  counties. 

Prof.  Emmons  first  ascertained  the  extent  and  general  character  of 
the  two  basins  of  Triassic  strata,  in  North  Carolina.  One  is  in  Stokes 
and  Rockingham  counties,  bordering  on  Virginia.  It  begins  at  Leaks- 
ville,  and  runs  about  thirty  miles  southwest  to  Germantown,  and  is 
from  four  to  six  miles  wide.  The  other  commences  six  miles  south  of 
Oxford,  in  Granville  county,  and  runs   southwest  through  a   part  of 


16 


Meaozoic  and  Casnozoio  Geoloyy  and  PahKontology, 


Oriiiigc,  Clmthtim,  iNIooio,  JMoiitgomery,  Richniorul  Jind  Anson  counties, 
and  extends  about  six  miles  into  Soutli  Curolinii.  Its  length  is  about 
120  miles,  an<l  it  has  u  breadth,  in  the  widest  part,  of  18  miles,  though 
its  width  is  generally  about  six  miles. 

In  1859,  Major  Hawn*  gave  a  section  in  Kansas,  of  rocks  410  feet  in 
thickness,  which  lie  referred  to  the  Triassic.  But  Dr.  Mudge  has 
maintainetl  since  that  time,  that  the  cretaceous  rocks  rest  directly  upon 
the  Permian,  in  that  State. 

In  1800,  iNIeek  &  Haydenf  described,  from  the  Jurassic,  at  the  south- 
west base  of  the  Black  Hills,  Pholadomja  humiliti,  31}/((cites  nebras- 
cenuls,  Thracia  arcnafa,  T.  tmblcbvis,  Curdium  .shitmardi,  Tancredia 
(jnquiluteruUs,  T.  warreitana,  Asturle  J'ruyilin,  A.  inomatfi,  Triyonia 
conradl,  Pecten  extenuatus^  now  Camjitonectes  e.etenuatus,  and  from 
Red  Buttes,  on  the  North  Platte,  Ostrea  enyelmutmi,  Pecten  bellis- 
tricita,  now  Camptonectes  beUistrkitns,  and  DcnttiUum  nubquadratum. 

And  Wm.  M.  Gabb|  described,  from  the  Triassic  in  Bath  county, 
Virginia,  Ceratites  viryiniamis  and  Phynchonella  halli. 

In  1861,  Dr.  F.  V.  Ha3(len,§  in  his  reconnoissance  of  the  country 
about  the  headwaters  of  the  JNIissouri  and  Yellowstone  rivers,  found 
the  red  arenaceous  deposits,  usually  referred  to  the  Triassic  age, 
exposed  in  outcropping  belts,  from  one  to  two  miles  wide,  around  the 
margins  of  the  mountain  elevations,  but  not  generally  otherwise  ex- 
posed. They  occur  on  the  northeastern  side  of  the  Big  Horn  moun- 
tains, on  the  west  slope  of  the  Wind  River  mountains,  along  the  moun- 
tains al  the  source  of  the  Missouri,  around  the  Judith  mountains, 
and  at  numerous  other  places.  Frequently  thick  layers  of  gypsum 
are  found  in  the  deposits.  The  thickness  observed  is  from  1000  to 
1500  feet. 

He  also  found  the  Jurassic  rocks  overlying  the  red  arenaceous  beds, 
referred  to  the  Triassic,  and  possessing  an  equal  geographical  exten- 
sion. They  are  found  along  the  margins  of  the  Black  Hills,  along 
the  northeastern  slope  ot  Lhe  Big  Horn  mountains;  at  Red  Buttes; 
along  the  southwest  side  of  the  Big  Horn,  and  the  northeast  side  of 
the  Wind  River  mountains,  sometimes  having  a  thickness  of  1000 
feet,  and  containing  organic  remains  in  the  greatest  abundance. 

In  the  same  year.  Meek  &  Hay  den  ||   described,  from  the  Jurassic,  at 


*  Proc.  Am.  Ass.  Ad.  Sci. 

t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 

X  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci..  2d  Ser.,  vol.  iv. 

§  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  2d  Ser.,  vol.  xxxi. 

II  Proc.  Acad.  Nat   Sci. 


Mesozoic  and  CcBiiozoio  Ocology  and   PnUvontology, 


17 


the  heail  of  Wiiul  River  vnlley,  Qryphva  cnlceola^  var.  nehrfiarenstH 
Modiola  formosa,  now  Volnella  /ormosn,  Neritelln  neht'oscenaia. 
Melanin  vetevna,  now  Lioplncoden  veterna. 

In  1864,  F.  B.  Meek*  deseribed,  from  the  JuniHsic,  of  (Jjilifornia, 
Rhynchonella  (jnathophorn^  Limd  ainnatn,  L.  reef icoa fata,  L.  cnne- 
ata,  Pecfen  amtiplicatna,  fnoceramua  obliqinia,  J,  rectangitlna,  Triy- 
onia  pandicosla,  Mytilna  midtfafriatua,  Aafnrfe  ventricoaa,  Uni- 
cardUim  yihf)oanm,  Myaclfvn  depreaans.  And  W.  M.  Gabbf  described 
Lima  erring foni,  now  Aucella  errinytoni,  and  Jielemnitea  pact- 
flcua. 

And  from  tlie  TrinRsie  rocks, J  in  the  Bnena  Vista  District,  and  tlie 
Humboldt  Mining  Region  of  Nevada  Territory,  Orthoccraa  blakei, 
Kaatilua  whifntyi,  N".  mulficameraf.ua,  Ceratitea  whitneyi,  Ammonitea 
hlakei,  A.  howfrayi,  A.  hillinyaanita,  Myacitea  htimboldtenaia,  Cor- 
bula  blakei,  Myfilna  homfrayi,  Avicida  homfrayi,  Ilalobia  dubia, 
lihynchopterna  of}eaua,  Poaidonomya  atella,  P.  dayionenaia,  Myo- 
phoria  nlta,  Terebrafula  humboldtenaia,  hhynchonella  linyulata,  R. 
cequiplicata,  Spirifera  homfrayi^  from  Sonora  Mexico,  Pano]}a^a  re- 
mondi,  from  Gifftn-d's  Raneii,  Plumas  county,  California,  Avicula  mu- 
cronata,  Monotia  aubcircidaria,  Pecten  deformia. 

In  1865,  F.  B,  Meek§  described,  from  the  Jurassic,  near  the  south- 
west base  of  the  Black  IliUs,  Vlviparua  gilli;  from  the  auriferous 
slates  on  the  Mariposa  estate  of  California,||  Aucella  errimj^oni,  var. 
lingiiiformia,  and  Amuaainni  aurarinm.  J.  D.  Whit'iey  referred  ti.e 
auriferous  rocks  of  El  Dorado,  Mariposa,  and  Toulomme  counties, 
California,  to  Jurassic  or  Triassic  age.  And  Bailey  and  Matthew^ 
showed  that  the  Trias  of  New  Brunswick  consists  of  three  small 
patches,  on  the  coast  of  the  Bay  of  Fundy,  one  at  Quaco  Head,  an- 
other at  Gardner's  Creek,  and  the  other  at  Salisbury  Cove. 

In  1866,  Prof.  E.  D.  Cope**  described,  from  the  Triassic,  at  Phoenix- 
ville,  Pa.,  Maatodonaaurua  ditrua,  now  Uupslor  durua,  and  Pter- 
odactylua  longiapinua. 

In  1867,  Prof.  Svvallowf  f  found,  in  eastern  Kansas,  what  he  sup- 
posed to   be  the  Triassic,    consisting   of  a    series   of  buff,  red   and 


*  Pal.  ofCal.,  vol.  i. 
t  Proc.  Cal.  Acad.  Sci. 
X  Pal.  ofOal.,  vol.  i. 
g  Pal.  Up.,  Mo. 
II  Geo.  Sur.  Cal.,  vol.  i. 
V  Rep.  on  S.  N,  Brunswick. 
<■*'  Proo.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 
tt  Proc.  Am.  Ass.  Ad.  Sci. 


18 


Meaozoic  and  CcBuozoic   Oeolof/y  find  Palceontoloyy. 


mottlucl  sandstones,  red  nn*l  <lt'al>  miirls,  hntC,  nia<;iii>Hi,'ui  and  hlark 
limostont's,  blue  and  brown  shalos  and  ^^ypsnin.  ;M4  IVut  in  thick- 
ness. Tiiese  meks  extend  in  an  inej^jniar  belt  aeross  the  State, 
(Voin  the  head  waters  ol' the  Hlue  and  Fancy,  across  thi«  Republican  and 
Solomon,  and  over  the  Kansas,  betwe(Mj  Turkey  (JriM'k  and  the  Sal'ne; 
thonce  south  and  southeasterly  up  the  Smoky  Hill  and  Gypsum,  I  ol- 
land  and  Turkey  ('reeks;  along  the*  northern  slope  of  the  divi(U',  souih 
of  the  Kansas,  to  the  iieads  of  Lyon  and  Diamond  (.'recks;  sweeping; 
thence  westward  across  thc!  (/ottonwood  and  down  tlic  div'de,  soutii 
of  that  stream,  to  tiie  Walnut  and  White  Water.  Tiie  <>ypsnin  beds 
vary  in  thickness  from  0  to  r)0  feet,  and  crop  out  on  the  JJluc,  the  lie- 
publican,  and  the  Kansas,  and  on  Turkey  Creek;  and  on  the  divides 
between  the  CJypsum  and  Ilollaiul,  and  between  Turkey  Creek  and  the 
(Jottonwood. 

In  the  same  year,  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden*  referred  the  celebrated  Pipe- 
stone quarry  of  northeastern  Dakota,  to  the  Triassic,  and  showed  that 
the  manufacture  of  it  into  pipes  commenced  by  the  Indians,  at  a 
quite  recent  date — probably  witliin  the  last  'jO  or  100  years.  The 
pipestone  is  called  (^atlinite. 

The  Triassic  rocks  of  New  Jersey  f  are  included  in  a  belt  of 
country  which  has  the  Highland  Ranjj;e  of  mountains  on  its  ncuth- 
west  side,  and  a  line  almost  straight  from  Staten  Island  Sound, 
near  Woodbridge,  to  Trenton,  on  its  southeast;  the  Hudson  river 
on  the  n  M'theast,  and  the  Delaware  on  the  southwest.  The  length 
of  the  southern  border  line  is  74  miles;  that  on  the  northwest  is 
«i8  miles.  These  measurements  arc  from  the  Delaware  river  to  the 
State  line.  Its  greatest  breadth  is  on  the  Delawcre,  where  it  is  over 
30  miles  across.  From  Mine  mountain  to  the  Raritan  river,  near  the 
mouth  of  Lawrence  Brook,  its  breadth  is  19  miles.  On  the  State  line, 
from  the  Hudson  river  to  Sufterns,  it  is  15  miles.  The  area  embraced 
within  these  limits,  excluding  the  bays,  is  about  1500  square  miles.  Of 
this  about  330  square  miles  are  occupied  b}^  trap  roclf.  It  consists  of 
red  sandstone,  and  is  fossiliferous,  at  Pompton,  Boonton,  Milford, 
Tumble  Station,  Belleville,  Newark,  Pluckamin  and  other  places. 

The  ordinary  way  of  computing  the  thickness  of  a  rock  formation 
is  to  take  its  dip,  and  also  the  breadth  of  country  across  which  this  dip 
is  continued,  and  use  them  as  two  parts  of  a  right-angled  triangle  for- 
getting the  remaining  parts,  one  of  which  is  the  perpendicular  thick 


"  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  2  ser.,  vol.  xliii. 
t  Geo.  ofN.  Jersey,  1868. 


Memtzoir  and  CUmozoie  Qeoloyy  and  PultfonfoltHfy. 


10 


npsR  of  tlio  i<K'k.  Tlic  red  sundstont'  lins  an  uvcni^c^  dip  jdonjj;  th« 
Dt'ljiwaiT  livt'f,  <»r  III  U'UHt  10  di'jfict'M,  for  'M)  milcH.  This  would  ^ivo 
u  tliickmiMM  (»f  27.000  tVft  lor  this  t'oiniation,  or  inoro  than  live  niiU's. 
If  tho  modi!  of  coiniMitatiim  is  accoptt'd,  tho  roHiiit  nuist  be  rect'lvcd  as 
correct.  Those  who  think  tin;  strata  wore  once  horizontal,  and  that 
they  liivve  been  thrown  Into  tlicir  present  inclijied  position  at  some  la- 
ter period,  adopt  this  concUison  without  hesitation.  Others  who  think 
the  strata  were  deposited  on  a  slope  as  we  now  lind  Ineni,  do  not  con- 
sider the  above  to  hv  the  true  thickness.  They  suppose  that  the  strata 
along  the  sontheast  border  were?  lirst  deposited  on  this  northwest  slop*'; 
and  then  that  the  upper  edges  wore  worn  off,  and  the  material  carried 
farther  northwest  to  be  again  deposited,  and  form  new  strata  upon  the 
lower  parts  of  those  already  deposited.  VVithont  any  addition  of  ma- 
terial there  would  in  this  way  be  a  mnltiplieation  of  strata,  all  having 
the  same  dip.  And  such  a  process  could  go  on  iintil  the  formation 
had  widened  out  to  its  present  extent. 

The  aqueous  rocks  of  the  new  red  sandstone  period,  in  Nova  Scotia 
and  Prince  Edward  Island,*  are  principally  coarse  and  soft  re<l  sand- 
stones, with  a  calcareous  cement,  which  causes  them  to  effervesce 
with  acids,  and  contriI)nte8  to  the  fertility  of  the  soils  formed  from 
them.  In  the  low  part  of  the  formation,  there  are  conglomerates  made 
up  of  well  worn  pebbles  of  the  harder  and  older  rocks. 

The  volcanic  rocks  of  tliis  period  arc  of  that  character  known 
to  geologists  as  trap,  and  are  quite  analogous  to  the  products 
of  modern  volcanoes;  and,  like  them,  consist  principally  of  Aiujfte, 
a  dark  green  or  blackish  mineral,  composed  of  silica,  lime  and 
magnesia,  with  iron  as  a  coloring  material.  Various  kinds  of  trap  are 
distinguished,  corresponding  to  the  varieties  of  modern  lavas.  Crys- 
talline or  basaltic  trap  is  a  black  or  dark  green  rock,  of  a  fine  crystal- 
line texture,  and  having  on  the  large  scale  a  strong  tendency,  to  as- 
sume a  vude  columnar  or  basaltic  structure.  Amygdaloid  or  almond- 
cake  trap  is  full  of  round  or  oval  cavities  or  air  bubbles,  filled  with 
light  colored  minerals  introduced  by  water  after  the  formation  of  the 
rock.  This  represents  the  vesicular  or  porous  lava  which  forms  the 
upper  surface  of  lava  currents,  just  as  the  basalt  trap  represents  the 
basaltiform  lava  which  appears  in  their  lower  and  more  central  parts. 
The  only  difference  is,  that  in  the  amygdaloid  the  cavities  are  filled 
up,  while  in  the  modern  lavas  they  are  empty.  In  some  old  lavas, 
however,  the  cavities  are  already  wholly  or  partially  filled.     A  third 


•  Acadian  Geology,  1868. 


20 


Mesozoic  and  Cmnozoic  Geology  and  Paloiontologp. 


\ 


|!|^ 


kind  of  trap,  very  abundant  in  Nova  Scotia,  is  Tufa  or  Tuff,  or  vol- 
canic sandstone,  a  rock  of  earthy  or  sandy  appearance,  and  of  gray, 
greenish  or  brown  color.  It  consists  of  fine  volcanic  dust,  and  scoriae, 
popularly  known  as  the  ashes  and  cinders  of  volcanoes,  cemented  to- 
gether into  a  somewhat  tough  rock.  Modern  tufa,  quite  analogous  to 
that  of  the  trap,  is  ver}'  abundant  in  volcanic  countries,  and  some- 
times sufficiently  hard  to  be  quarried  as  a  stone. 

In  the  valley  of  the  Salmon  river,  4^  miles  eastward  of  the  village  of 
Truro,  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  New  Iio(\  Sandstone  is  seen  to  rest 
unconformably  on  hard,  reddish,  brown  sandstones  and  shales,  belong- 
ing to  the  lower  part  of  the  Carboniferous  system,  and  dipping  N.  80 
degrees,  E.  at  an  angle  of  40  degrees.  At  this  place  the  overly  ng  forma- 
tion is  nearly  horizontal,  and  consists  of  soft  and  rather  coarse,  bright, 
red,  silicious  sandstones.  Southward  of  Truro,  at  the  distance  of  less 
than  a  mile,  the  horizontal  soft  red  sandstone  is  seen  in  the  banks  of  a 
brook,  to  run  against  hard,  brownish  grits  and  shales,  dipping  to  the 
eastward  at  angles  varying  from  45  to  50  degrees.  Westward  of  this 
place,  the  red  sandstones  extend  in  a  narrow  band,  about  a  mile  in 
width,  to  the  mouth  of  theShubenacadie,  ten  miles  distant.  This  band 
is  bounded  on  the  North  by  Cobequid  Bay,  and  on  the  South  by  higb- 
ly  inclined  sandstone,  shale,  and  limestone  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous 
series.  In  the  coast  section,  between  Truro  and  the  Shubenacadie,  the 
red  sandstone  presents  the  same  characters  as  at  the  former  place,  ex- 
cept that  near  the  Siuibenacadie,  some  of  the  beds,  which,  like  most  of 
the  red  sandstones  of  Truro,  have  a  calcareous  cement,  show  a  tenden- 
cy to  arrangement  in  large  concretionary  balls.  West  of  the  month  of 
the  Shubenacadie,  the  red  sandstone  ceases  to  forn.  a  continuous  belt, 
but  occurs  in  several  patches,  especially  at  Salter's  head,  Barncote  and 
Walton.  At  the  latter  place,  it  is  seen  to  rest  on  the  edges  of  sandstones 
and  other  rocks  of  the  Lower  Carboniferous  system,  attbrding  a  very 
fine  example  of  that  unconformable  superposition,  which,  in  r^eology, 
p,*oves  the  underlying  formation  to  have  been  elevated  and  disturbed 
before  the  overlying  beds  were  deposited  upon  it. 

Westward  of  Walton,  the  estuary  of  the  Avon  river  and  Minas  basin 
make  a  very  wide  gap  in  tiie  new  red  sandstone.  On  the  western  side 
of  Minas  basin,  however,  this  formation  attains  its  greatest  width  and 
grandest  proportions.  Blomidon  is  tho  eastern  extremity  of  a  long 
band  of  trappean  rocks,  forming  an  elevated  ridge,  named  in  the  greater 
part  of  its  length  the  "  North  Mountains."  This  ridge  is  about  123 
miles  in  length,  including  two  insular  portions  at  its  western  extre 
mity,  and  does  not  exceed  five  miles  in   breadth,  except  near  Cape 


Mesozoir,  and  (,'cenozoic.  Geology  and  Pahvontology. 


21 


Blomidon,  where  Ji  narrow  proniontorv,  terminating  in  Cape  Split,  ex- 
tends to  the  northward.  The  trap  of  the  North  Mountains  presents*  to 
the  Bay  of  Fundy,  a  ranoe  of  high  cliffs,  and  is  bounded  on  the  inland 
side  b}  soft  red  sandstones,  which  form  a  long  valley  separating  the 
trappean  rocks  from  another  and  more  extensive  hilly  district,  occupied 
principally  l)y  metamorphic  slates  and  granite.  The  trap  has  protec- 
ted the  softer  sandstones  from  the  waves  and  tides  of  the  bay,  and 
probably  also  from  older  denuding  agents;  and  where  it  terminates,  the 
shore  at  once  recedes  to  the  southward,  forming  the  western  side  of  the 
Minas  basin,  and  atfording  a  cross  section  of  the  North  Mountains 
and  the  valley  of  Cornwallis. 

At  Cape  Blomidon,  the  cliff,  which  in  some  parts  is  400  feet  in  height, 
is  composed  of  red  sandstone  surmounted  by  trap.  The  sandstone  is 
soft,  arranged  in  beds  of  various  degrees  of  coarseness,  and  is  variegated 
by  greenish  bands  and  blotches.  It  contains  veins  of  selenite  and  fib- 
rous gypsum,  the  latter  usually  parallel  to  the  containing  beds,  but 
sometimes  crossing  them  obliquely.  It  dips  to  the  N.  W.  at  an  angle 
of  16  degrees.  Resting  on  the  sandstone,  and  appearing  to  dip  with  it 
to  the  N.  W.,  is  a  thick  bed  of  amygdaloidal  trap,  varying  in  color  from 
gra}^  to  dull  red,  but  in  general  of  grayish  tints.  It  is  full  of  cavities 
and  fissures;  and  these,  as  well  as  its  vesicles,  are  filled  or  coated  with 
quartz,  in  differeat  States,  and  with  various  zeolites,  especially  heu- 
landite,  analcime,  natrolite,  stilbite,  and  apophylite,  often  in  large  and 
beautiful  masses  of  cr^'stals.  In  its  lower  part  there  are  some  portions 
which  are  scarcely  vesicular,  and  often  appear  to  contain  quartz  sand 
like  that  of  the  subjacent  sandstone.  Above  the  beds  of  amygdaloid  is 
a  still  thicker  stratum  of  crystalline  basaltic  trap,  hr.ving  a  rude 
columnar  structure. 

The  columnar  trap  of  Blomidon,  in  consequence  of  its  hardness  and 
vertical  joints,  presents  a  perpendicular  wall,  extending  along  the  top 
of  the  precipice.  The  amygdaloid  beneath,  being  friable  and  much 
fissured,  falls  awa}'  in  a  slope  from  the  base  of  this  wall,  and  the  sand- 
stone in  some  places  forms  a  continuation  of  the  slope,  or  is  altogether 
concealed  by  the  fallen  fragments  of  trap.  In  other  places,  the  sand- 
stone has  been  cut  into  a  nearly  vertical  cliff,  above  which  is  a  terrace 
of  fragments  of  amygdaloid. 

Northward  of  Cape  Blomidon,  ,the  northwesterly  dips  of  the  sand- 
stone and  trap  cause  the  base  of  the  former  to  descend  to  the  sea- 
level,  the  columnar  trap,  which  here  appears  to  be  of  increased  thick- 
ness, still  presenting  a  lofty  cliff.  Southward  of  the  Cape,  on  the  other 
hand,   the   amygdaloid  and   basalt  thin  out,  until  the  red  sandstones 


f'ti 


22 


Mesozoic  and  Cwnozoic  Geoloy;/  and  Palwonfoloffy. 


occupy  the  whole  of  the  cliff".  It  thus  appears  that  the  trap  at  Blouii- 
don  is  a  comtbrmable  bed,  resting  on  the  sandstone,  exactly  as  in  some 
places  on  the  opposite  shore. 

The  coast  section  between  Blomidon  and  Horton,  as  seen  near  Peroau 
river  and  Bass  creek,  and  at  Starrs  Point,  Long  Island  and  Bout  Is- 
land, exhibits  red  sandstones,  with  northwest  dips  at  angles  of  about  15 
degrees,  and  precisely  similar  in  mineral  character  to  those  of  Blomidon, 
except  that  aear  Bass  creek  some  of  them  contain  'ayers  of  small 
pebbles  of  quartz,  slate,  granite  and  trap.  The  whole  of  these  sand- 
stones underlie  those  of  Blomidon,  and  resemble  those  which  occupy 
the  long  valley  of  Cornwallis  and  the  Annapolis  river,  westward  of  this 
section.  In  this  valley,  the  red  sandstone,  in  consecpience  of  its  soft 
and  friable  nature,  is  rarely  well  exposed,  but  where  observed,  it  has 
the  same  dip  as  on  the  coast.  The  comparatively  high  level  of  the 
sandstone,  where  it  underlies  the  trap,  shows  that  the  present  form  of 
this  valley  is  in  great  part  due  to  denudation. 

Commencing  at  Truro,  the  New  Red  Sandstone  extends  with  several 
interruptions,  as  far  as  Cape  d'Or.  It  consists  of  a  narrow  strip  ex- 
tending only  about  three  miles  from  the  bay,  with  occasional  masses 
of  trap.  At  Cape  d'Or  a  great  mass  of  trap  rests  on  slightly  in- 
clined red  sandstone,  and  this  again  on  disturbed  carboniferous  rocks, 
while,  behind  and  from  beneath  these  last,  still  older  slates  rise  into 
mountain  ridges.  Cape  d'Or  forms  a  great  salient  mass  standing  out 
into  the  bay,  and  separated  from  the  old  slate  hills  behind,  by  a  val- 
ley occupied  bj-  the  red  sandstone  and  carbo.iiferous  shales.  It  dif- 
fers from  most  of  the  trappean  masses  in  the  arrangement  of  its  com- 
ponent parts.  The  upper  part  of  the  cliff"  consists  of  amygdaloid  and 
tufa,  often  of  a  brownish  color,  while  beneath  is  a  more  compact  trap, 
showing  a  tendency  to  a  columnar  structure. 

The  small  patches  of  New  Red  Sandstone  on  the  Ne«v  Brunswick  side 
of  the  Bay  of  Fund\',  with  the  deposits  in  Nova  Scotia,  show  that  the 
depression  occupied  by  the  Trlassic  Bay  was  of  similar  form  (though 
somewhat  enlarged  probably)  to  that  occupied  by  the  present  Bay  of 
Fundy. 


Mtisozoic  find  Cnnwzoic  Geology  and  Palwontoloyy. 


2:5 


Dr  Joseph  Leidy*  described,  from  the  Triassic  rocks  of  Star  Canon, 
Humboldt  county,  and  from  Toiyabe  Range  northeast  of  Austin,  Ne- 
vada, Cymhospondylus  petrinus,  fj.  piscosiis  and  Chonespondylus 
grandis.  And  Prof.  E.  D.  Cope,  from  Chatham  county,  North  Carolina, 
the  batrachiaii  Pariostegus  myops. 

In  1869,  T.  A.  Conradf  referred  the  clays  on  the  Raritan  river,  in 
New  Jersey,  which  are  found  at  the  base  of  the  Cretaceous,  to  the 
Triassic,  and  described  Podozamites  proxlmus  and  P^lmocypris  tri- 
nodiferus.  He  described  from  South  river,'!  New  Jersey,  Astarte  veta, 
and  A.  annosa,  and  from  Perkiomen  Creek,  Pa.,§  Solenomyn  friasina. 

Prof.  E.  D.  Cope, II  from  the  Triassic  at  Phoenixville,  on  the  Schuyl- 
kill river.  Pa.,  the  Saurian  Belodon  Jepturus. 

In  1870,  W.  ]M.  (labb^  described,  t'vom  New  Pass,  near  Austin,  and 
in  the  slates  of  Star  Canon,  Cardinia  ponderosa,  Posldonomya  blatch- 
leyi,  Cassianella  Ungulata  and  3Ionotis  circidaris.  And  from  the 
Jurassic'of  the  mining  district  of  Volcano,  in  'Neya(\a,  Amnio7iites  ne- 
vadensis.  Turbo  regias,  T.  elevatus,  Pholadomya  multilineata,  P. 
nevadana^  Goniomya  apet  tci,  Cardium  arciformis,  Astarte  appressa, 
PUcatula  perimbricata^  and  Spirifera  obtusa;  and  from  the  slates  on 
the  west  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  near  CoX^iX'x.,  Ammonites  coif  ax  i. 

In  1871,  Prof.  J.  W.  Dawson**  described  from  the  Trias  of  Prince 
Edward  Island,  Dadoxylon  edvirdanum  and  Cycadoidea  nbequidensis. 

In  1872,f  f  he  said  the  Trias  of  Prince  Edward  Island  is  represented 
principally  by  bright  red  sandstone,  sometimes  mottled  with  white  and 
associated  occasionally  with  beds  of  gray  and  white  sandstone.  Sub- 
ordinate to  these  sandstones  are  beds  of  red  and  mottled  clay,  of  red- 
dish concretionary  and  conglomerate  limestone,  sometimes  dolomitic 
and  of  reddish    conglomerate   with    quartz   pebbles   and   arenaceous 


M 


'■■■  Proc.  Acad.  Nat    Sci. 

t  Am.  Journal  Sei.  and  Arts,  2d  series,  vol.  47, 
X  Am,  .loiir.  Qoiich.,  vol.  4. 
't.  Am.  Jour.  Conc-h.,  vol.  5. 
II  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Sot-. 
H  Am.  Jour.  Conch.,  vol.  5. 
'•'*  lleport  on  Prince  Edward  Island. 
tt  Lond.  Geo.  Mag.,  vol.  9. 


■;.l 


^h-lf 


ti4: 


u 


Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  History. 


m 


n 


cemont.  These  beds  iindiilatoiu  low  syucliiials  luul  antioliiuils,  having 
in  general  a  nortlieast  and  southwest  direction,  antl  rise  in  some  places 
to  an  elevation  of  400  I'eet  above  the  sen.  They  are  probably  about 
500  feet  in  thickness.  The  lower  half  of  this  thickness,  which  con- 
tains the  limestone  beds,  and  also  certain  hard  beds  of  conglomerate 
and  concretionary  calcareous  sandstone,  may  be  regarded  as  an  equiv- 
alent of  the  Bunter  Sandstone  ;  while  the  upper  portion,  consisting 
principally  of  soft  red  sandstone,  with  some  beds  of  line  grained  con- 
glomerate may  be  regarded  as  corresponding  to  the  Keuper. 

These  beds  rest  conformably  upon  the  newer  coal  measures  without 
the  intervention  of  the  Permian.  I'hey  appear  to  have  been  deposited 
in  a  shallow  sea  area,  not  improbably  coincident  with  the  Southern 
Bay  of  the  Gulf  of  St  Jjawrence,  limited  to  the  north  by  the  Magdalen 
Islands  and  the  banks  in  their  vicinity,  which  represent  an  old  Lower 
Carboniferous  outcrop.  Their  materials  were  derived  from  the  waste 
of  red  sandstones  and  marls  of  the  Carboniferous,  and  have  been  thrown 
down  with  suflicient  rapidity  to  prevent  the  coating  of  red  oxide  of 
iron  from  being  removed  by  abrasion,  or  by  the  chemical  action  of 
organic  matter.  The  dolomitic  character  of  some  of  the  coarse  lime- 
stones may  either  indicate  the  occurrence  of  occasional  isolated 
basins  and  depositions  of  magnesia  from  sea  water,  or  may  have  been 
connected  with  the  outburst  of  igneous  matter  in  magnesia,  like  the 
dolerite  of  Hog  Island,  near  to  which  place  the  beds  richest  in  mag- 
nesia were  observed. 

In  1872,  F.  B.  jMeek*  described  from  the  Jurassic,  at  Lincoln  Valley, 
near  Fort  Hall,  Idaho,  Aviculopecten  idahoensis. 

In  1873,  Dr.  F.  V.  Hay  den  estimated  thv,  thickness  of  the  Jurassic, 
on  the  Missouri,  below  the  Canon  at  the  Three  Forks  at  1,500  feet.  A 
section,  in  Spring  Canon,  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Gallatin  river  in 
Montana,  of  limestones,  sandstones,  quartzites  and  conglomerates,  dis- 
plays a  thickness  of  425  feet,  followed  below  b}'  65  feetof  Triassic  age.f 
And  F.  B.  Meek  described  from  Montana  Gervillia  montanensis,  Go- 
niomya  montanensis,  Jfyacites  sabcornpressus,  Pholadomya  kinyi, 
Triyonia  americana,  2\  montanensis,  and  Volsella  sabimhricata. 

In  1874,  Dr.  HaydenJ  estimated  the  thickness  of  the  Triassic  on 
Eagle  river,  consisting  of  brick-red  sandstones  and  cla3's  at  from  1,200 
to  1,500  feet,  and  above  thetn  200  feet  or  more  of  Jurassic  rocks,  suc- 


•*  Sth  Rep.  Ilayden's  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr, 
t  6th  Rep.  Ilayden's  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 
X  7th  Rep  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 


Mesozoic  and  Camozofc  Oenlogji  and  Palaionf.oloffy. 


26 


ccec^d  by  a  quartzite  belonging  to  the  Dakota  Group,  having  a  thick- 
ness of  150  feet.  At  Little  Thompson's  creek  it  consists  of  soft  granite 
sandstones  and  conglomerates  below,  followed  by  red,  shaly  and  mas- 
sive sandstones  above,  and  reposes  upon  the  smoothed  and  often  irreg- 
ular surface  of  Archaean  I'ocks.  It  has  a  thickness  of  750  feet.  It  thins 
out  north  of  Golden  City,  where  it  has  a  thickness  of  scarcely  400  feet, 
but  rapidly  thickens  in  its  extension  southward  to  where  the  South. 
Phitte  debouches  from  the  mountains;  here  it  attains  a  thickness  of 
1,600  feet.  Dr.  A.  C.  Peale's  section  through  Pleasant  Park  I'opre- 
sents  its  thickness  at  1,580  feet,  and  from  Glen  Eyrie  eastward  to 
Camp  creek,  1,280  feet. 

A  section  of  the  Jurassic  rocks,  taken  by  Wm.  II.  Tlolmos  near  Saint 
Vrain's  Creek,  gave  a  thickness  of  between  400  and  500  feet;  and  an- 
other in  Bear  Canon,  870  feet;  another  near  Ralston  creek,  660  feet; 
and  another  near  Bear  Creek,  770  feet.  Dr.  A.  C.  Peale's  section 
through  Pleasant  Park  furnishes  a  thickness  of  about  461  feet,  and 
from  Glen  Eyrie  eastward  to  Cam})  Creek,  405  feet. 

Prof  E.  D.  Cope*  detected  the  first  vertebrate  fossils  in  the  Trias  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains  of  New  Mexico,  including  carnivorous  Sauri- 
ans  and  Unionidic,  the  latter  indicating  a  lacustrine  deposit. 

In  North  Carolina  f  there  are  two  narrow  fringes  of  an  eroded  and 
obliterated  anticlinal  which  belong  to  the  Triassic;  the  smaller  or 
Dan  river  belt,  from  2  to  4  miles  wide,  following  the  trough-like  valley 
of  that  stream,  about  N.  65°  E.  for  more  than  30  miles,  to  the  Virginia 
line,  and  then  extending  into  Viiginia  about  10  miles;  the  other,  the 
Deep  river  belt,  extending  in  a  similar  ti-ough  5  to  15  miles  wide  (and 
depressed  100  to  200  feet  below  the  general  level  of  the  countrj'),  from 
the  southern  boundary  of  the  State  in  Anson  county,  in  a  N.  E.  direc- 
tion, to  the  middle  of  Granville  county,  within  15  miles  of  the  Virginia 
line.  They  are  separated,  therefore,  by  a  swell  of  country  75  to  100 
miles  wide,  which  rises  along  its  topographical  axis  to  800  or  900 
feet  above  the  sea,  the  troughs  themselves  having  respective!}-  an 
elevation  of  500  to  600  feet,  and  200  to  300  feet.  The  belts  are. 
convergent  in  the  direction  of  the  Triassic  beds  of  Virginia,  with 
which  they  were  <loubtlcss  once  connected  (as  well  as  with  some 
small  intervening  outliers)  in  one  continous  formation. 

The  dip  of  the  Dan  river  beds  is  about  35°  N.  W.  (20°  to  70°)  and 
those  of  Deep  river,  20°  S.  E.  (10°  to  35°).     The  rocks  are  sandstones, 


l>-ll 


'■'  Proi!.  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 
t  Korr's  (Jeo.  of  N.  Carolina,  1875.    Emmons  'Jco.  Siir.  18."/). 


M 


26 


Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  History. 


I  ! 


■ 


clay  sliites,  shales  and  conglomerates,  generally  ferruginous  and  brick 
red,  but  often  graj'  and  drab.  The  sliales  aie  occasional!}'  marly,  and 
these  iiud  the  sandstones  are  sometimes  saliferous.  Many  of  the  beds 
consist  of  loose  and  uncompacted  materials,  and  are  therefore  easily 
abraded. 

The  most  important  and  conspicuous  member  of  the  series,  is  a  large 
body  of  black  shales,  which  enclose  scams  of  bituminous  coal  2  to  <> 
feet.  This  coal  lies  near  the  base  of  the  system  in  both  belts,  and  is 
underlaid  on  Dan  river  by  shales;  and  on  Deep  river  by  sandstones 
and  conglomerates;  the  latter  constituting  the  lowest  member  of  the 
series,  and  being  in  places  ver}'  coarse.  And  near  the  eastern  margin 
in  Wake  county,  where  the  belt  reaches  its  greatest  breadth  (some  15 
miles),  the  conglomerates  are  of  great  thickness  and  very  coarse,  un- 
compacted and  rudely  stratified,  resembling  somewhat  the  half  strati- 
fied drift  of  the  mountain  slopes,  the  fragments  often  little  worn,  and 
sometimes  10  to  12  inches  in  diameter,  and  evidently'  derived  from  the 
Huronian  rocks  of  the  hills  to  the  eastward.  The  conglomerates  of 
the  Dan  river  belt  are  among  the  upper  members  of  the  series,  and  are 
mostly  fine  and  graduating  to  grits  and  sandstones. 

The  black  shales  near  the  base  of  the  sj'stem  contain  beds  of  fire 
clay  and  black  band  iron  ore,  interstratified  with  the  coal.  They  are 
also  highly  fossiliferous,  especially  on  Deep  river.  Silicified  trunks  of 
trees  are  very  abundant  in  the  lower  sandstones,  as  may  be  seen  con- 
spicuously near  Germantown,  in  Stokes  county,  the  public  road  being 
in  a  measure  obstructed  by  the  multitude  of  fragments  and  entire 
trunks  and  projecting  stumps  (»f  a  petrified  Triasyic  forest;  and  simi- 
lar petrifactions  are  abundant  in  the  Deep  river  belt,  occurring  in  this, 
as  in  the  other,  among  the  sandstones  near  the  horizon  of  the  coal. 

The  actual  vertical  depth  to  the  underlying  Archrean  rocks  on  Dan 
river  may  not  exceed  1000  feet,  but  what  was  the  original  thickness  of 
the  strata  before  denudation  began  can  only  be  conjectured.  The  beds 
on  Dan  river,  however,  measured  at  right  angles  to  the  dip,  gives  a 
minimum  thickness  for  that  side  of  the  formation  of  near  10,000  feet. 
In  the  section  of  the  Deep  river  belt,  which  is  exposed  in  the  valley  of 
the  Yadkin,  not  onl}'  is  there  a  width  of  six  miles  with  the  usual  dip 
of  20°,  but  there  is  an  additional  outcrop  more  than  a  mile  in  breadth, 
ten  miles  south  of  the  principal  belt,  which  preserves  the  southeasterly 
dip  of  nearly  20°,  and  Jience  the  calculation  for  a  minimum  thickness, 
at  this  margin,  must  be  based  on  a  breadth  of  16  miles,  which  gives  a 
thickness  of  more  than  25,000  feet. 

There  is  no  way  of  accounting  for  the  present  position  of  these  beds 


Mfisozoic  and  Cwnozoic  Geolor/if  and  Pala'ontolof/jj. 


21 


with  their  opposite  and  considerable  dips,  but  by  supposing  an  uplift 
of  the  intervening  tract,  such  and  so  great,  that  if  the  movement  were 
now  reversed,  it  vvould  carry  tliis  swell  of  nearly  100  miles  breadth 
into  a  depression  much  below  tlie  present  level  of  the  troughs  in  which 
these  remnant  fringes  lie,  so  that  there  has  been  an  erosion  not  only  of 
10,000  to  '2{),000  feet  of  the  broken  arch  of  Trias^sic  beds  over  this  area 
but  also  of  a  corsiderable  thickness  of  the  underlying  rocks  on  which 
they  had  been  deposited. 

The  present  area  of  Triassic  in  North  Carolina  is  about  1,000  square 
miles,  about  one  third  of  which,  it  is  estimated,  is  underlaid  with  coal. 

Prof  G.  K.  Gilbert*  found  a  section  of  the  Trias  exposed  by  the 
North  fork  of  Virgin  river,  from  the  vicinity  of  Mountain  Lakelet  to 
Rockville,  in  Southern  Utah,  ',],2M)  feet  in  thickness,  and  the  Jurassic 
at  the  same  place  :?50  feet.  Tlie  Triassic  on  tlie  West  Fork  of  Paria 
^  Creek,  2.575  foet,  and  the  Jurassic  740  feet.  And  the  Triassic  at 
Jacob's  Pool,  Northern  Arizona,  2,150  feet  in  thickness.  E.  E.  Ho- 
well estimated  the  Trias  at  Rock  Canon,  near  Provo  in  the  Wahsatch 
Range,  at  from  4,000  to  5,000  feet,  and  the  Jurassic  from  6,000  to 
8,000  feet.  On  Pine  Mountain,  the  Trias  at  4,050  feet,  and  the  Jurassic 
at  1,200  feet. 

On  the  Dirty  Devil  river  in  Northern  Utah,  the  Jurassic  is  about 
800  feet  thick,  on  the  southwest  side  of  Escalante  river,  60  miles  far- 
ther south,  from  1,000  to  1,200  feet.  The  thickness  of  the  Triassic  in 
New  Mexico  and  Eastern  Arizona  is  from  1,200  to  1,800  feet.  This 
gradually  increases  to  the  westward  until  near  Paria,  it  is  2,250  feet 
Ninety  miles  to  the  northeast,  on  the  Dirtj^  Devil  river,  1,700  to  1,900 
feet,  is  found,  while  near  St.  George,  farther  west,  the  thickness  is  esti- 
mated between  5,000  and  6,000  feet. 

J.  J.  Stevenson  found  the  Triassic  on  Beaver  Creek,  a  few  miles 
northeast  of  Canon  City,  2,700  feet  in  thickness,  and  unconformable 
with  the  Jurassic  above,  wherever  it  is  observed  in  this  region. 

Prof.  G.  M.  Dawson, f  separated  the  Triassic  or  Jurassic  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  near  the  boundary'  monument,  in  descending  order,  into — 
1st.  Fawn-colored  flaggy  beds,  100  feet.  2d.  Beds  characterized  by  a 
predominant  red  color,  and  chiefly  red  sandstone,  but  including  some 
thin  greyish  beds,  and  magnesian  sandstones,  the  whole  generally  thin 
bedded,  though  sometimes  rather  massive.  Ripple  marks,  etc.,  weath- 
ers to  a  steep  rocky  talus,  where  exposed  on  the  mountain  sides  ;  and 
passes  gradually  down  into  the  next  series,  300  feet. 


1^'^ 


i' 


'•"  Geo.  Sur.  W.    100th  Meridian,  vol .  3. 
t  Rep.  (leo,  49tli  Parallel. 


^ii 


28 


Ciaohinatl  Society  of  Katural  History. 


1 1 


Theo.  B.  ('oinstoc'k*  found  the  Jurassic  liincstoncs  outcroppin<j  in 
many  places,  in  the  Wind  river  country,  particularly  In  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  mountains,  upon  both  sides  of  the  i)lateau,  and  having  a 
thickness  of  about  1,000  feet. 

And  ]*rof.  E.  D.  Copef  described  from  the  Trias  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, in  New  JNIexico,  Typothoiutx  cocciiuirum. 

In  187G,  Prof.  .1.  W.  J*owell;|;  separated  the  Jurassic  and  Triassie 
rocks  of  the  I'lateau  Piovince  of  the  west  in  descending  order,  as  fol- 
lows— 

1.  Flaming  Gorge  Group,  ....         1200  feet. 

2.  White  Clilf  Group, 1100     " 

:].  Vermilion  Cliff  Group,  ....         1100     '^ 

4.  Shinarump  Group,      ......     1800     " 

The  Flaming  Gorge  Groui)i8  of  Jurassic  age,  the  other  three  are 
situated  above  the  carboniferous,  but  whether  they  should  be  referred 
to  the  Jurassic  or  the  Triassie  has  not  been  determined. 

The  Flaming  Gorge  Group  consists  of  bad-land  sandstones,  fiome- 
times  argillaceous  with  much  gypsum,  massive  sandstones'  and  lime- 
stones. A  bed  of  limestone  at  the  base  is  from  10  to  200  feet  in  thick 
ness.  In  Southern  Utah  it  caps  an  extensive  escarpment  which  is 
called  the  white  cliff  limestone.  It  can  be  well  studied  at  Flaming 
Goi'ge,  the  t3'pe  locality.  Commencing  at  the  conglomerate  of  the 
Henry's  Fork  Group,  and  going  southward,  you  pass  over  the  upturned 
edges  of  the  beds,  crossing  the  bad-land  sandstones,  then  the  mid- 
group  limestones,  and  then  the  bad-land  indurated  sandstones  until  the 
limestone  is  reached.  The  bad- land  sandstones  both  above  and  below 
the  mid  group  limestone  are  of  fresh  water  origin. 

The  White  Cliff  Group  is  a  massive,  obliquely  laminated  sandstone, 
often  a  beautiful  white  or  golden  color,  sometimes  red.  In  a  few 
places  there  are  heavily  bedded  sandstones.  Tlie  typical  locality  is  in 
Southern  Utah.  The  Paria,  Kanab,  and  Rio  Virgen  with  their  manj' 
tributaries  that  head  in  the  Pink  Cliffs  above  and  to  the  north,  have 
cut  many  canons  and  canon  valleys  through  these  escarpments  plainl}^ 
revealing  the  structural  geology  and  stratigraphy. 

The  Vermilion  Cliff  Group  consists  of  massive  sandstones  with  fer- 
ruginous la\'ers,  and  often  with  thin,  irregular  beds  of  cherty  lime- 
stone ;  the  massive  beds  sometimes  broken  into  thinner  strata.  It  is 
also  well  exposed  in  the  Paria,  Kanab,  Rio  Virgen  and  their  tributa- 


''■■  .Jones'  Report  on  Northwestern  Wyoming,  etc. 

t  Proc.  Ai-ad.  Nat.  Sci. 

t  Geo.  of  Uinta  Mountain.s. 


::l-iii: 


Mesozoio  and  LUenozoin  Geoloyif  and  Palfeuiitoloyy, 


25) 


lies.  Tlie  w:mon  roiul  from  TociiuMvillo  to  Piuisi,  a  littU'  town  on  the 
I'tiriii  river,  soon  after  climhinij:  the  Iliirrieane  Leduje,  reaches  tlie  foot 
of  the  Vermilion  Clitfs,  and  continues  at  tliis  geological  horizon  until 
it  commences  to  descend  into  tlu;  valley  of  the  Paria.  For  seventy-five 
miles  the  road  lies  under  this  great  leilge,  whose  salient  l)uttes,  deep 
alcoves,  terraced  and  buttressetl  walls,  towei'ing  i)innacles,  all  brightly 
colored  in  orange,  vermilion  and  purple,  and  dotted  here  and  there 
with  straggling  cedars  and  nut  pines,  constitute  a  grand  panorama  to 
the  passing  traveler.  Flaming  Gorge,  on  Green  river,  is  cut  through 
beds  of  this  group,  and  received  its  name  from  the  l)right  colors  of  the 
sandstone.  Labyrinth  Canon  and  Glen  Canon  j)resent  ilne  exposures, 
and  line  exposures  may  also  be  seen  along  the  (.Colorado  Chicpiito. 

The  Shinarump  Group  is  separable  into  the  Upper  Shinarump 
consisting  of  bad-land  sandstones  'vith  much  gypsum;  often  argilla- 
eeouy;  sometimes  indurated  sandstones.  2d,  the  Shinarump  conglo- 
merate, consisting  of  a  line  conglomerate,  not  easily  recognized  toward 
the  north,  about  20  feet  in  thickness,  but  increasing  southward  until 
it  attains  200  feet.  It  is  found  capping  an  extensive  escarpment,  known 
as  the  Shinarump  Clirt's.  And  IJd,  the  Lower  Shinarump,  consisting 
of  bad-land  sandstones  with  much  gypsum  ;  sometimes  argillaceous; 
in  a  few  places  they  are  indurated  sandstones;  sometimes  unconform- 
able by  erosion  with  the  next.  In  such  places  a  conglomerate  is  found 
at  the  base,  composed  of  rounded  and  angular  fragments  of  carbon- 
iferous rocks. 

The  variegated  beds  above  and  below  the  conglomerate  are  seen  in 
many  places  on  either  flank  of  the  Uinta  Mountains,  and  from  time  to 
time  this  horizon  is  brought  up  b^'  faults  or  flexures  in  all  the  stretch 
of  country  which  intervenes  between  the  Shinarump  Clifls  and  the 
Uinta  Mountains.  This  group  may  be  seen  at  the  foot  of  the  clifl'on 
the  south  side  of  Flaming  Gorge,  and  throughout  the  valley  of  Sheep 
Creek.  Outcrops  are  found  in  Po  Canon  district,  at  the  foot  of  the 
Yarapa  plateau  to  the  east,  south  and  west,  from  the  foot  of  Whirlpool 
Canon,  through  the  Island  Park  district,  and  south  of  Echo  Park,  at 
the  foot  of  the  Yampa  plateau. 

The  Shinarump  Conglomerate  is  characterized  by  the  occurrence  of 
silicified  wood  in  large  quantities.  Sometimes  trunks  of  trees  occur, 
from  50  to  100  feet  in  length.  Shinarump  means  literally  "Sliin-au- 
av's  Rock."  Shinauav  is  one  of  the  Gods  of  the  Indians  of  that  coun- 
try, and  the}'  believed  these  trees  to  have  been  his  arrows. 

The  plane  of  demarkation  between  the  Shinarump  and  the  summit 
of  the  Carboniferous  is  always  well  marked- 


H 


4i 


80 


(Jiacintiufi  Socuity  of  Natural  Ilisfofy. 


M      I 


It..  ■:! 


t,  ,1 


Prof.  C.  A.  Wliito  (IcHcribed  tVoiii  tlio  Fliiming  (Joi-jj^c!  rrronp,  Grooii 
river,  nonr  the  northern  boiindiiry  line  of  Utah,  Uiiio  sfeirtir<lf,  iind 
from  the  moutii  of  Tiiistle  Creek,  SpiiuiHJi  Foric  Ciinon,  Utah,  Ncritina 
powelli. 

R.  P.  Whitfield  *  described  from  tin;  Jnriissie  in  the  Uridji^er  Monn- 
tains,  Montiina,  Grijph'tca  planooonvexa,  Genu'/lia  sparsalirata  tind 
Mt/aliiia  pet'idana. 

Dr.  F.  V,  IIayden,f  s|)oakin<>'  of  the  Triassie  (rroup  of  Colorado  and 
the  Went,  as  late  as  1870,  says: 

The  Red  Beds  or  Triassie  Group  is  very  persistent,  and  if  absent  at 
all,  only  at  very  short  intervals.  No  organic  remains  have  yet  beea 
found  in  this  group,  l>y  the  meinlKjrs  of  the  survey  under  my  charge, 
yet,  for  various  reasons,  we  have  assumed  the  red  sandstones  to  be  of 
Triassie  Age.  It  is  barely  possible  that  a  [)ortion  or  all  of  the  Group 
is  of  Jurassic  Age.  Yet  Prof.  Cope  is  of  the  opinion  that  he  has  dis- 
covered evidence  in  New  Mexico  of  its  Triassie  Age.  The  history  of 
this  Group  is  still  obscure,  and  remains  as  one  of  the  problems  to  be 
solved  by  more  extended  and  more  thorough  explorations.  Geograph- 
ically it  is  one  of  the  most  widely  distributed  formations  in  the  west. 
From  the  northern  boundary  to  the  southern  line  and  east  of  the  Wa- 
satch range,  in  Utah,  this  red  formation  makes  its  appearance  wherever 
a  mountain  range  is  elevated  so  as  to  expose  the  various  sedimentary 
groups.  The  evidence  indicates  that  it  extends  without  an}'  import- 
ant interruption  over  the  broad  area  as  defined  above.  These  red 
sandstones  have  alwa3's  attracted  much  attention,  on  account  of  their 
peculiar  color,  but  nowhere  have  lever  observed  them  performii.g  such 
a  conspicuous  part  in  giving  form  to  the  scenery  of  the  country,  as 
along  the  eastern  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  Colorado.  This 
feature  is  more  marked  from  a  point  about  fifty  miles  north  of  Denver 
to  Colorado  Springs,  than  in  any  other  portion  of  the  continent.  Along 
this  belt  the  sandstones  are  more  compact,  with  every  variety  of  red, 
from  a  pale,  dull  tint  to  a  deep  purple  color.  There  is  also  every 
variety  of  texture,  from  a  rather  coarse  conglomerate  to  a  fine  sand- 
stone. It\ariesmuch  in  thickness,  ranging  from  400  to  2,000  feet. 
These  sandstones  in  Pleasant  Park,  the  '•  Garden  of  the  Gods,"  and 
other  places  have  been  weathered  into  the  most  fantastic  shapes,  and 
stand  up  in  immense  walls  or  columns  from  5U  to  250  feet  in  height. 

Dr.  A.  C.  Peale  found  Permian  fossils  in  the  beds  below  the  red 
sandstones  referred  to  the  Triassie,  and  as  Dr.  Hayden  and  others  had 


*  Carroll  to  Yellow  Stone,  Nat.  Park, 
t  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr 


McHozoic  and  Ccsnozofc  Geology  and  Palmontology. 


:u 


Cound  Juiussic  foHsils,  in  the  beds  above,  which  are  referiod  to  Juras- 
sic age,  it  left  tiie  conclusion  with  him  that  the  reu  sant]stones  are  of 
Triassic  age.  The  credit,  liowever,  of  lirst  announcing  the  age  of  these 
sandstones  is  due  to  JNI.  Jules  Marcou,  who,  as  early  as  185:1,  in  his 
"geological  map,"  etc.,  "with  an  ex|)lanatory  t(!xt, "  referred  the 
beds  of  conglomerate,  described  by  ('ai)t.  Stansbury,  in  the  environs 
of  th(!  Devil's  Gate,  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  conglomerate  and  sand- 
stone described  by  Prof.  Dana,  on  the  Shaste  river,  and  the  boundary 
between  Oregon  and  California,  to  the  Trias.  I'he  reader  may  also  be 
referred  to  his  "  Resume  and  Field  Notes,"  in  Vol.  3,  Pacific  R.  R.  Sur- 
ve}',  where  he  identified  these  rocks  at  numerous  places  near  the  Uuth 
parallel. 

Dr.  Pealc  found  a  section  of  Jurassic  rocks,  at  the  head  of  Second 
Canon,  Eagle  river,  about  *.)40  feet  in  thickness,  and  consisting  of 
marls,  sandstones  and  limestones.  Another  on  Roaring  Fork  below 
station  No.  14,  -14:0  feet  thick,  and  another  in  the  lower  Canon  of  Gun- 
nison river,  near  station  GO,  representing  212  feet  in  thickness.  It  oc- 
curs usually  only  as  a  narrow  belt  outcropi)ing  beneath  the  Dakota 
Group. 

In  1877,  Arnold  Hague*  estimated  the  thickness  of  the  Triassic  on 
the  outlying  ridges  and  foot  h'lls  of  the  east  side  of  the  Colorado 
Range  at  800  feet.  The  group  is  found  immcdiatel}'  overlying  the 
Coal  Measures  all  along  the  foot-hills  of  the  range,  the  continuity  of 
the  out  crop  being  broken  in  on!}-  a  few  places,  and  in  most  cases, 
simply  by  being  concealed  below  the  uncomforraable  Tertiary  beds. 
The  rocks  are  characterized  by  a  prevailing  brilliant  red  color,  which 
shades  oft' into  yellowish  and  whitish  tints,  and,  near  the  top  and  bot- 
tom of  the  series,  show  frequently  reddish-gray  bands.  The  deep  brick- 
red  color,  however,  is  so  persistent  as  to  form  one  of  the  most  clearlj-- 
defined  geological  horizons  of  the  uplifted  sedimentary  beds. 

The  group  reaches  its  greatest  development  to  the  southward  in 
Colorado,  between  the  Big  Thompson  and  Cache  la  Poudre,  while  north 
of  the  railroad  it  appears  much  thinner,  and,  between  Lodge  Pole  and 
Horse  Creek,  reaches  its  minimum.  Still  farther  to  the  northward,  in 
the  region  of  the  Chugwator,  it  again  thickens,  but  scarcely  attains 
the  thickness  in  Colorado.  A  section  atChugwater  shows  between  500 
and  600  feet  of  strata,  and  another  at  Box  Elder  Creek,  G50  feet. 
Sandstones  form  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  eutire  series  of  strata. 
Even  the  conglomerates,  shales,  clays  and  earth}'  beds,  which  occur  in- 


*  Geo.  Expl.  40th  Parallel. 


•.\2 


Cincinnuti  Society  of  NntHrnl  lUsfory. 


V\P 


>i 


;?i:i 


torst rati  Hod,  nppoarnioroorloHfiaronacoojiH,  nnd  nro  really  closely  allied 
to  true  HandHtones,  only  sliowiiij^  coiisidenilile diversity  in  texture  and 
ineehanieal  eondltions.  Deponits  of  gypstiun  are  very  eoinuiou  in  the 
upper  bedn. 

The  TrinHsic  is  exposed  aloiiji;  the  Laramie  river,  exhihitinif  a  series 
of  nearly  horizontal  strata,  1,0(10  feet  in  thiekness.  In  one  plaec  a  de- 
posit of  pure  solid  ij;y|)siini,  22  feet  in  thiekness,  oeeiirs,  lyinf>'  between 
two  l)eds  of  hard  red  sandstone.  In  the  North  Park  the  thiekness  is 
(stiniatcd  at  lOCO  ftiet. 

S.  F.  Emmons  *  found  tiie  Triassie  in  the  vicinity  of  Rawlinjif's  Peak, 
000  feet  in  thickness.  And  in  the  Uinta  Mountains,  from  ;i.700  to 
4,000  feet.  At  its  base  is  a  series  of  clayey  beds,  havinj?  a  thickness 
of  1,200  to  1,500  feet,  abont  eciually  divided  by  a  thin  bnt  persistent 
bed  of  limestone.  This  is  succeeded  b}-  the  Red  IJed  Group  in  a 
thickness  of  about  2,500  feet,  princii)ally  of  sandstones. 

In  Henry's  Fork  Basin,  which  is  a  narrow  valley,  extending  15  miles 
in  either  direction,  cast  and  west  from  Crreen  river,  with  a  width  of 
about  n  miles,  and  whose  average  level  is  about  300  feet  below  the  cen- 
ter of  the  Bridger  Basin  proi)er,  the  Triassie  sandstones  in  Flaming 
Gorge  Ridge,  near  Green  river,  are  exposed  in  perpendicular  cliffs,  about 
1,200  feet  i'l  height,  while  having  at  their  base  an  undetermined  thick- 
ness of  clay  beds. 

In  Emigration,  Parley  and  Weber  Canons,  in  Utah,  the  Triassie  is 
exposed  from  800  to  1,000  feet  in  thickness.  Tlie  Jurassic  is  also 
present,  and  in  some  places  has  an  estimated  thickness  of  1,500  to  1,800 
feet. 

The  Triassie,  in  the  Desatoya  and  New  Pass  Mountains  of  Nevada, 
contains  highly  fossiliferous  calcareous  shales  and  limestones.  In  the 
Pah-Ute  Range  in  the  region  of  Dun  Glen  Pass,  fossils  indicating  Ju- 
rassic and  Triassie  ages  are  found  associated  together. 

The  Triassie  is  represented  in  the  West  Humboldt  Range,  Nevada, 
in  Cottonwood,  Buona  Vista,  Coyote,  Bloody  and 'Star  Canons.  Single 
sections  expose  strata  1,500  feet  or  more  in  thiekness. 

Arnold  Hague*  estimated  the  thickness  of  the  Jurassic  on  the  out- 
lying ridges  and  foot  hills  of  the  Colorado  range  at  250  feet,  down  to 
50  feet  and  less.  The  rocks  consist  of  loose  friable  sandstones,  lime- 
stones, marls,  and  impure  clays,  presenting  great  variety  in  color  and 
texture,  and  passing  from   one  to  the  other  by  almost  imperceptible 


*  Goo.  Sur.  40th  Parallel. 


Mesozoic,  ami  Cnnozoic  (icolnyy  and  Pala:onfolo()ij. 


:{3 


grados.  The  lino  Hcpanitinj?  this  jj^roiip  from  th«  Tiinssif  is  not 
I'li'iirly  (ledncd,  iiiid  tlio  scpiinitidii  tluTororo  is  soint'wimt  arliitriiry. 

'I'lu'  ^I'oiij)  iittiiins  its  gr»'iiU'st  tliickiu'ss  in  tlu!  n'^ion  ol'llij^  Tlioinp- 
son  ( 'rt'i'Iv,  in  (\)1'M'ii(1().  Iti  \Vy(nnln,u;,  ulonj^  Lodge  I'olc  and  Il(trsi) 
Creeks,  it  is  re|)i'i'«ente(l  by  only  iilxMit  7'»  feet  of  stnita.  Still  riirtlier 
to  tlio  northward  it  o::j)ands  ji^ain  to  a  thieknt'ss  of  !.')()  feet.  On  the 
Laramie  Plains  west  of  Antelope  (Jreek  the  thiekness  is  estimated  at 
200  feet.  On  Como  Uid^e,  in  the  (ixtreme  n(nth\vestern  corner  of  the 
Laramie  Plains,  Just  west  of  the  lOOth  Meriilian,  the  Jurassic  rocks 
exhibit  all  the  characteristic;  strata  that  have  hi'cn  observed  in  other 
localities,  associated  with  orj^anic  remains,  and  possessing  a  thickness 
of  from  17^)  to  200  feet.  Its  thickness  in  the  North  I'ark  is  estimated 
at  from  200  to  250  feet. 

S.  F.  P2mmons*  estimated  the  average  thickness  of  the  Jurassic  in 
the  Uinta  Mountain  Region  at  from  000  to  800  feet,  in  which  the  lime- 
stones are  highly  fossil iferous,  and  have  a  thickness  of  200  or  '.iOO  feet, 
the  remainder  being  made  up  of  sandstones,  shales  anil  clay  beds,  re- 
markable, where  well  exposed,  for  their  bright,  variegated  colors. 

In  Henry's  Fork  Basin,  a  Ihiikness  of  IJOO  to  400  feet  is  observed 
in  the  elitt's  overlooking  Sheep  Creek. 

In  the  Montezuma  Range,  Nevada,  the  shales  have  a  thickness  of 
between  3,000  and  4,000  feet,  and  rest  directly  upon  granite.  North  of 
Indian  Pass,  and  at  Antelope  Peak,  they  reach  a  development  of  4,000 
feet. 

F.  B.  ]Meekf  described,  from  the  Triassic  at  Buena  Vista  Canon, 
Nevada,  Sphcura  whitneyl,  Modwniorpha  ovata,  Jlodioviorpha  lata, 
Gymnotoceras  rotelliforme,  Arcestfis  peiplamis,  A.  (jahbi,  Acrochordi- 
ceras  hyatti,  Entomoceras  laithei,  Eudiscoceras  yubbi.  Hall  and 
Whitfield,  from  the  Trias  ofPah-Ute  Range,  Nevada,  Spirifera  alia, 
Kdmondia  myrlna. 

Prof.  E.  D.  Cope,];  from  the  Trias  at  Phoenixville,  Pa.,  Palaeocfonus 
appalachianus,  a  gigantic  carnivorous  dinosaurian,  F.  anlacodus,  now 
Suchoprion  aulacodus,  Clepsysaunis  veatleianun,  Suchoprion  cypho- 
don,  Thecodonlosaurus  g ibbidens ^^  and  Palaeosaurnsjrazeranus^  from 
Texas,  Eryops  meyacephalus;  and  from  Painted  Canon,  in  Southeast- 
ern Utah,!  Dystrophaeus  vioemala;. 


I  ■?.! 


I  ■!  I  ■ 


-  Gflo.  Sur.  40th  Parallel. 

t  U.  S.  Geo.  Expl.,  40th  Parallel,  vol.  4. 

t  Pal.  Bull..  No.  26. 

§  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 

1  Wheeler's  Sur.  W.  lOPth  Mor.,  vol  4. 


34 


Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  History. 


ilf 
% 


;'l:i 


r!  ;' 


f   ^^^ 


Prof.  C.  A.  Wliito,*  from  the  Jurassic  south  of  Dirty  Devil  river, 
Utah,  Ostrea  strigilecula;  from  the  North  Fork  of  Virgin  river,  Ino- 
cerainus  crassalatus ;  and  from  Camp  Cottonwood,  Old  Mormon  Road, 
Nevada,  Myophoria,  amhilinenta. 

F.  B.  3reok,f  from  the  Jurassic  at  New  Pass,  Desatoya  Mountains, 
Nevada,  Limn  erecta;  from  the  Weber  (!anon,  Wasatch  Range,  Pinna 
kinyi,  Cucidloia  hagnei,  Jfyacites  inconspicuns^  3fyacites  iceberensis^ 
and  from  Cottonwood  Canon,  Belemnit.es  nevadaensis.  Hall  and  Whit- 
field, from  the  Jurassic  at  Flaming  Gorge,  Uinta  Range,  Utah,  lihyn- 
chonella  myrina,  Limn  occidentalis,  from  Chalk  Creek,  Astnrte  arenosa, 
from  Shoshone  Springs,  Augusta  Mountains,  Nevada,  Terehratula 
angicsta,  Aviculopecten  aufjustcnsis,  Septocardia  typica^  S.  carditoidea, 
from  Wyoming  Natica  lelia,  Gamptonectes  pertenuistriatus,  Trigonia 
quadrangularis\ 

Prof  E,  D.  Cope  first  suggested  that  the  rocks  at  Canyon  City, 
Colorado,  supposed  by  Prof  Hayden  to  belong  to  the  Dakota  Group 
(and  also  those  in  the  same  horizon,  100  miles  north,  supposed  b^- 
Prof  iNIarsh  to  be  lower  Cretaceous),  are  Jurassic,  and  described];  Cam- 
arasaurus  stipremns,  Compsemys  plicatuUis,^  Caulodon  diversidens, 
Tichosteus  lucasanus,  Atnphicailias  alf.i(s,\\  A.  latus,  Symphyrophus 
miisGidosns,^  Caulodon  leptognmun,  Lailaps  triJiedrodon.** 

And  Prof  O.  C.  Marshf  f  described,  from  the  Upper  Jurassic  rocks 
on  the  eastern  flank  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  Stegosanrus  armatus, 
Atlantosanrns  montanus,  Apatosaurus  ajax,  A.  grandis,  Allosaurus 
/ragilis,  Nanosaurus  rex. 

In  1878,  J.  F.  Whiteaves];J  pointed  out  the  Jurassic  Age  of  certain 
rocks  exposed  on  Iltasyouco  river,  in  British  Columbia,  and  described 
Pinna  suhcancellata.  Grammatodon  Utasyoucoensis  and  Trigonia 
dawson  i. 

Prof  E.  D.  Cope,  from  near  Canyon  City,  Colorado,§§  Hypsirophus 
discurus,  Brachyrophus  altarkansanus,  Amphicotylus  lucasi,  Tichos- 
tens  a-quifacies,  and  Sphanterias  a7nplexus.\\\\ 

Prof  O.  C.  Marshf  ^  described,  from  the  Upper  Jurassic  of  Colo- 
rado, Atlantosnurus  immanis,  Jlorosanrits  impur,  Allosaurus  lucaris. 


<*  Wheeler's  Sur.  W.  100th  Mer.,  vol.  4. 

t  U.  S.  Geo.  Expl.  40th  Pfirallel. 

t  Pal.  Bui.,  No.  25.      g  /Wrf.,No.  26.      || 
*  •  Bull.  U   S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr.,  No.  3. 
tt  Am.  Juur.  Sei    <fc  Arts,  3d  ser.,  vol.  14. 
It  (Jeo.  Sur.  Can. 
g?  Bull  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.,  vol.  4.  No.  1. 


Illf  Am.  Jour.  Sei.  &  Arts,  3d  ser.,  vol.  15  and  16. 


Tbid.,  No.  27.      H  Ibid.,  No.  28. 


Am.  Nat.,  vol,  13. 


Mesozoic  and  Cmnozoic  Geology  and  Palwontolotjy. 


35 


Creosaiirus  atrox,   Laosaurus  celer,  L.   gracilis^   Dryolestes  prisons. 
Pterodactyl  us  montanus. 

In  1879,  Geo.  M.  Dawson*  found  on  Nicola,  Lake,  in  Rritisli  Colum- 
bia, a  great  formation  built  up  almost  exclusively  of  volcanic  products, 
which  have  frequently  a  characteristically  green  color,  and  hold  toward 
the  base  beds  of  gray,  subcrystalline  limestone,  intermingled  in  some 
places  with  volcanic  material,  and  holdinv>-  occasional  beds  of  water- 
rounded  detritus,  which  he  regarded  as  of  Triassic  Age. 

Dr.  C.  A.  White  described,!  from  the  Jurassic  of  southeastern  Idaho, 
Terebratula  semfsim/dex,  Avicnlopecten  pealei,  A.  altus,  3Iee/coceras 
aplanatum,  31.  gracilitatis,  31.  mushhachanum,  and  Arcestes  cirratus. 

Prof  O.  C.  Marsh;];  described,  from  the  Jurassic  of  the  Rocky  ]Moun- 
tains,  Stylncodon  gracilis,  Ctenacodon  serratus.  Dryolestes  arcuatus, 
Tinodon  robustus,  T.  lepidvs,  Brontosmirus  excelsus,  camptonotus 
ampins,  C.  dispar,  Coehwus  frag  His,  and  Stegosaurus  ungulatus. 

And  Prof  E.  D.  Cope§  described,  from  the  Jurassic  of  Colorado, 
Caynarasaurus  leptodirus  and  Hypsirhopiis  seeleyanus. 

Jurassic  strata  were  determined  at  Cook's  Inlet,  in  Alaska,  as  early 
as  1848.  and  Grewingk  described,!  from  this  place,  Ammonites  tvos- 
nessenski,  and  identified  A.,  hiplsx,  Belemnitella  paxillosa,  and  Utiio 
liasinus.  And  in  1857,  Jurassic  strata  were  determined  at  Point  Wilkie 
on  Prince  Patrick  Land,  far  north  of  British  America.  It  was  from 
this  place  that  Capt.  McClintock  collected  the  fossils  described  by 
Prof  Haughton^  as  Ammonites  macclintocki  and  3fonotis  (Avicula) 
septentrionalis. 

In  taking  a  general  view  of  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic  strata,  we  see 
them  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  continent  consisting  of  narrow  belts, 
having  an  immense  thickness.  The  thickness  in  the  Connecticut  Val- 
ley is  but  little  short  of  four  miles,  while  in  New  Jersey  it  exceeds  five 
miles.  Israel  C.  Russell  has  argued  that  th'^  ph3^sical  history  of  these 
beds,  in  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut,  tends  strongly  to  show  that  the 
two  areas  are  the  borders  of  one  great  estuary  deposit,  the  central  por- 
tion of  which  was  slowly  upheaved,  and  then  removed  by  denudation. 
That  the  trap  sheets  were  derived  from  a  reservoir  beneath  the  estuary 
deposits,  and  represent  in  part  the  force  that  caused  the  upheaval. 
The  outburst  of  trap  must  have  been  the  closing  event  of  the  Triassic 
changes,  and  have  occurred  after  the  sedimentary  beds  had  been  up- 


^1  I 


•hi 


It ' 


■■■•  Geo.  Sur.  Can.  t  BuU.  U.  S.  Sur..  Vol.  5,  No.  1. 

X  Am.  Jour.  Sei.  &  Arts,  3d  sor..  vol.  18.  ^  Am.  Nat.,  vol.  13. 

llVerhandlungen  dor  Russisch-Kniserliehen  mineralogischen  Gesellschaft  zuSt.  Petersbourg. 

If  Jour.  Roy.  Dub.  Soc,  Ireland, 


v 


36 


Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  History. 


I  ir 


m 


beavccl  and  eroded.  And  that  the  detached  areas,  even  to  North  Caro- 
lina, must  have  been  pai't  of  the  same  estuary  formation,  now  broken 
up  and  separated  through  the  agency  of  upheaval  and  denudation. 

Much  denudation  has  evidently  taken  place,  which  must  be  added 
to  the  enormous  thickness  which  still  exists  to  ascertain  the  original 
dimensions  of  the  deposit.  All  this  points  to  a  great  depth  of  the  sea, 
or  the  ba3's,  as  the  case  may  have  been,  in  which  the  deposits  were 
made. 

But  when  we  turn  to  the  Triassic  and  the  Jurassic  of  the  West,  we 
observe  them  extending  from  Mexico  far  into  British  Columbia,  and 
covering  hundreds  of  thousands  of  square  miles.  Over  extended  areas 
the  Triassic  is  more  than  a  mile  in  thickness,  and  superimposed  upon 
it  is  a  great  thickness  of  the  Jurassic  ;  and  again  the  Jurassic  is 
found  more  than  a  mile  in  thickness  resting  upon  the  heavy-bedded 
Triassic  strata.  The  maximum  thickness,  therefore,  of  these  forma- 
tions over  great  tracts  of'country  is  more  than  two  miles,  and  the  ques- 
tions very  naturally  arise,  what  age  do  they  represent  ?  Could  the 
deposits  have  been  rapidl}'  made,  and  therefore  represe.it  only  a  brief 
space  of  time,  or  were  they  extremely  slow  and  indicative  of  the  lapse 
of  millions  of  years?  Were  the  deposits  made  in  shallow  water,  or  in 
the  depths  of  mid-ocean?  Is  there  a  deposit  now  taking  place  that 
bears  any  resemblance  to  these,  and  if  so,  what  light  if  any  does  it 
throw  upon  the  subject?  And  what  does  palreontolog}-,  the  criterion 
by  which  all  rooks  are  to  be  judged,  offer  to  enligliten  us  in  regard  to 
the  secrets  of  this  vast  accumulation  of  detrital  material? 

All  deep-sea  dredgings  have  shown,  that  at  great  depths  in  the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  Oceans,  there  is  a  deposit  of  red  mud  constantly 
taking  place.  We  think  it  bears  some  resemblance  to  the  red  sand- 
stone of  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic  periods,  and  in  order  that  a  com- 
parison may  the  more  readily  be  made,  we  quote  from  the  mo  i^  mc- 
cessfulof  the  many  exploring  and  deep-sea  dredging  expedition 

Sir  C.  Wy ville  Thomson  says,*  speaking  of  the  first  time  thai  th** 
dredge  brought  up  the  mud  from  the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic  at  the 
depth  of  3,600  fathoms: 

"This  haul  interested  us  greatly.  It  was  the  deepest  by  several 
hundred  fathoms  which  had  yet  been  taken,  and,  at  all  event?  coinci- 
dently  with  this  great  increase  in  depth,  the  material  of  the  bottom  was 
totally  different  from  what  we  had  been  in  the  habit  of  meeting  with  in 
the  depths  of  the  Atlantic.  For  a  few  soundings  past,  the  ooze  had  been 
assuming  a  darker  tint,  and  showed  on  analysis  a  continually  lessening 

•■' Voyage  of  the  Challenger,  vol.  1, 1878. 


s       ■' 


Mesozoic  and  Ccnnozoic  Geology  and  Paloiontology. 


37 


amount  of  calcareous  matter,  and,  under  the  microsco))e,  a  smaller  num- 
ber of  foraminifera.  Now  calcareous  shells  of  foraminifera  were  entirely 
wanting,  and  the  only  organisms  which  could  be  detected,  after  wash- 
ing over  and  sifting  the  whole  of  the  mud  with  the  greatest  care,  were 
three  or  four  tests  of  foraminifera  of  the  cristellarian  series,  made  up 
apparently  of  particles  of  the  same  red  mud.  The  shells  and  spines  of 
surface  animals  were  almost  entirely  wanting;  and  this  is  the  more 
remarkable,  as  the  clay-mud  was  excessively  fine,  remaining  for  days 
suspended  in  the  water,  looking  in  color  and  consistence  exactly  like 
chocolate,  indicating  therefore  an  almost  total  absence  of  movement  in 
the  water  of  the  sea  where  it  is  being  deposited.  When  at  length  it 
settles,  it  forms  a  perfectly  smooth  red-brown  paste,  without  the  least 
feeling  of  grittiness  between  the  fingers,  as  if  it  had  been  levigated 
with  extreme  care  for  a  process  in  some  refined  art.  On  analysis  it  is 
almost  pure  clay,  a  silicate  of  alumina  and  the  sesquioxide  of  iron, 
with  a  small  quantity  of  manganese." 

After  a  great  deal  of  experience  in  sea  dredging,  he  says: 

"According  to  our  present  experience,  the  globigerina  ooze  is 
limited  in  the  open  oceans — such  as  the  Atlantic,  the  Southern  sea,  and 
the  Pacific — to  water  of  a  certain  depth,  the  extreme  limit  of  the  pure 
characteristic  lormation  being  placed  at  a  depth  of  somewhere  about 
2,250  fathoms. 

"  Crossing  from  these  shallower  regions  occupied  b}'  the  ooze  into 
deeper  soundings,  we  find  universally  that  the  calcareous  formation 
gradually  passes  into,  and  is  finally  replaced  by  an  extremely  fine  pure 
clay,  which  occupies,  speaking  geuerallj',  all  depths  below  2,500 
fathoms,  and  consists  almost  entirely  of  a  silicate  of  the  red  oxide  of 
iron  and  alumina.  The  clay  is  often  mixed  with  other  inorganic  mat- 
ter, particularly  with  partif'les,  graduating  up  to  the  size  of  large  nod- 
ules, of  peroxide  of  manganese;  and  in  volcanic  regions,  or  in  their 
neighborhood,  with  fragments  of  pumice.  The  transition  is  very  slow, 
and  extends  over  several  hundred  fathoms  of  increasing  depth;  the 
shells  gradually  lose  their  sharpness  of  outline,  assume  a  kind  of  '  rot- 
ten' look  and  a  brownish  color,  and  become  more  and  more  mixed  with 
a  fine  amorphous  red-brown  powder,  which  increases  steadil}'-  in  pro- 
portion until  the  lime  has  almost  entirely  disappeared.  This  brown 
matter  is  in  the  finest  possible  state  of  subdivision,  so  fine  that  when, 
after  sifting  it  to  separate  any  organisms  it  might  contain,  we  put  it  into 
jars  to  settle  it  remained  for  days  in  suspension. 

"  We  recognize  the  gray  ooze  as,  in  most  cases,  an  intermediate  stage 
between  the  globigerina  ooze  and  the  red  clay;  we  find  that  on  one 


I 


'■ill 


88 


Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  History. 


.'I 


II: 


side,  as  it  were,  of  an  ideal  lino,  the  red  clay  contains  more  and  more 
of  the  material  of  the  calcareons  ooze,  while  on  the  other  the  ooze  is 
mixed  with  an  increasing  proportion  of  red  cla}-. 

"  From  Teneriffe  to  Sombrero,  the  depth  goes  on  increasing  to  a  dis- 
tance of  1,150  miles  from  Teneriffe,  when  it  reaches  3,150  IVitlioms  ; 
there  the  clay  is  pure  and  smooth,  and  contains  scarcely  a  trace  of 
lime.  From  this  great  depth  the  bottom  gradually  rises;  and  with  de- 
creasing depth  the  gray  color  and  the  calcareous  composition  of  the 
ooze  retui'n.  Three  soundings  in  2,050,  1,900,  and  1,950  fathoms,  on 
the  '  Dolphin  Rise,'  gave  higlily  characteristic  examples  of  the  (jlo- 
bir/erina  formation.  Passing  from  the  middle  plateau  of  the  Atlantic 
into  the  western  trough,  with  depths  a  little  over  3,000  fathoms,  the 
red  clay  returned  in  all  its  purity;  and  our  last  sounding,  in  1,420 
fathoms,  before  reaching  Sombrero,  restored  the  globigerina  ooze  with 
its  peculiar  associated  fauna. 

"The  distance  from  Teneriffe  to  Sombrero  is  about  2,700  miles. 
Proceeding  from  east  to  west,  we  have  about  80  miles  of  volcanic  mud 
and  sand  ;  350  miles  of  globigerina  ooze;  1,050  miles  of  red  clay;  and 
330  miles  of  globigerina  ooze;  850  miles  of  red  c\i.y\  and  40  miles  of 
globigerina  ooze,  giving  a  total  of  1,900  miles  of  red  clay  to  720  miles 
of  globigerina  ooze. 

"The  nature  and  origin  of  this  vast  deposit  of  clay  is  a  question  of 
the  very  greatest  interest;  and  although  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  it  is  in  the  main  solved,  yet  some  matters  of  detail  are  still  iuA'olved 
in  difficult}'.  My  first  impression  was,  that  it  might  be  the  most 
minutel}'  divided  material,  the  ultimate  sediment,  produced  by  the 
disintegration  of  the  land  b}'  rivers,  and  by  the  action  of  the  sea  on 
exposed  coasts,  and  held  in  suspension  and  distributed  b}'  ocean  cur- 
rents, and  onl}'  making  itself  manifest  in  places  unoccupied  by  the 
globigerina  ooze.  Several  circumstances  seemed,  however,  to  negative 
this  mode  of  origin.  The  formation  seemed  too  uniform;  whenever  we 
met  with  it,  it  had  the  same  character,  and  it  only  varied  in  composi- 
tion in  containing  less  or  more  carbonate  of  lime. 

"Again,  we  were  gradually  becoming  more  and  more  convinced  that 
all  the  important  elements  of  the  globigerina  ooze  lived  on  the  surface; 
and  it  seemed  evident  that,  ho  long  as  the  conditions  on  the  surface 
remained  the  same,  no  alteration  of  contour  at  the  bottom  could  pos- 
sibly' prevent  its  accumulation;  and  the  surface  conditions  in  the  Mid- 
Atlantic  were  very  uniform,  a  moderate  surface  current  of  a  very  equal 
temperature  passing  continuousl}'^  over  elevations  and  depressions, 
and  everywhere  yielding  to  the  tow-net  the  ooze-forming  foraminifera 


Mesozoic  and  CUvnozoic  Geology  and  Falceontoloyy. 


:i\) 


in  tlio  same  proportion.  The  Mid-Atlantic  swarms  with  pelagic  mol- 
lusca;  and  in  moderate  depths,  the  shells  of  these  are  constantly  mixed 
with  the  globigerina  ooze,  sometimes  in  nnmber  suflicient  to  make  np 
a  considerable  portion  ol' its  bulk.  It  is  clea'"  that  these  shells  must 
fall  in  equal  numbers  upon  the  red  clay;  but  scarceh'  a  trace  of  one  of 
them  is  ever  brought  up  by  the  dredge  on  the  red  clay  area.  It  might 
be  possible  ta  explain  the  absence  of  shell-secreting  animals  liciny  on 
the  bottom  by  the  supposition  that  the  nature  of  the  deposit  was  in- 
jurious to  them;  but  the  idea  of  a  current  sufllciently  strong  to  sweep 
them  away,  if  falling  from  the  surface,  is  negatived  by  the  extreme 
fineness  of  the  sediment  which  is  being  laid  down.  The  absence  of 
surface  shells  appears  to  be  intelligible  only  on  the  supposition  that 
they  are  in  some  wa}'  removed  by  chemical  action. 

"We  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  red  cla}'  is  not  an  additional  sub- 
stance introduced  from  without,  and  occupying  certain  depressed  re- 
gions on  account  of  some  law  regulating  its  deposition;  but  that  it  is 
produced  by  the  removal,  by  some  means  or  other,  over  these  areas,  of 
the  carbonate  of  lime,  whicli  forms  probabl}'  about  98  per  cent,  of  the 
material  of  the  globigerina  ooze.     We  can  trace,  indeed,  e\c'vy  succes- 
sive stage  in  the  removal  of  the  carbonate  of  lime,  in  descending  the 
slope  of  the  ridge  or  plateau  where  the  globigerina  ooze  is  forming,  to 
the  region  of  the  clay;  we  find,  first,  that  the  shells  of  pteropods  and 
otiicr  moUusca,  which  are  constanth'  falling  on  the  bottom,  are  absent; 
or,  if  a  few  remain,  thej'  are  brittle  and  yellow,  and  evidently  decaying 
rapidly.     These  shells  of  mollusca  decompose  more  easily',  and  disap- 
pear sooner  than  the  smaller,  and  apparently  more     delicate  shells  of 
rhizopods.     The  smaller  foraminifera  now  give  wa}',  and  are  found  in 
lessening  proportion  to  the  larger;    the  coccoliths  first  lose  their  thin 
outer  border  and  then  disappear;  and  the  clubs  of  the  rhabdoliths  get 
worn  out  of  shape,  and  are  last  seen,  under  a  high  power,  as  minute 
cylinders   scattered  over  the  field.     The  larger  foraminifera   are  at- 
tacked, and  instead  of  being  vividly  white  and  delicatelj'  sculptured, 
they  become  brown  and  worn,  and  finally  they  break  up,  each  accord- 
ing to  its  fashion:  the  chamber-walls  of  (?Zo6<(/er«/ia  fall  into  wedge- 
shaped   pieces,  Avhich  quickl}-   disappear;  and    a   thick  rough   crust 
breaks  awa}-  from  the  surface  of  Orhulina,  leaving  a  thin  inner  sphere, 
at  first  beautifully  transparent,  but  soon  becoming  opaque  and  crumb- 
ling awa}'. 

"  In  the  mean  time,  the  proportion  of  the  amorphous,  red  cla}'  to  the 
calcareous  elements  of  all  kinds  increases,  until  the  latter  disappear, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  scattered  shells  of  the  larger  foraminifera, 


40 


Cincinnati  Society  of  Natural  History. 


f  ^s 


;:( ; 

t   V  J 


<i  'f 'iiiii 


(I'm 


which  are  still  found,  even  in  the  most  charactoristic  samples  of  the 
red  clay. 

"  There  seems  to  be  no  room  left  for  doubt  that  the  red  clay  is  es3eu- 
tiallj'  tlu!  insoluble  residue,  the  ash,  as  it  were,  of  the  calcareous  or- 
ganisms which  form  the  globigerlna  ooze  after  the  calcareous  matter 
has  been  by  some  means  removed.  An  ordinary  mixture  of  calcareous 
foraminifera  with  the  shells  of  pteropods,  forming  a  fair  sample  of 
globigerina  ooze  from  near  St.  Thomas,  was  carefully  washed,  and  sub- 
jected, by  jMr.  Buchanan,  to  the  action  of  weak  acid;  and  he  found 
that  there  remained,  after  the  carbonate  of  lime  had  been  removed, 
about  one  per  cent,  of  a  reddish  mud,  consisting  of  silica,  alumina,  and 
the  red  oxide  of  iron.  This  experiment  has  been  frequently  repeated 
with  different  samples  of  globigerina  ooze,  and  always  with  the  result 
that  a  small  proportion  of  a  red  sediment  remains,  which  possesses  all 
the  characters  of  the  red  clay.  .  I  do  not  for  a  moment  contend  that 
the  material  of  the  red  clay  exists  in  the  form  of  the  silicate  of 
alumina  and  the  peroxide  of  iron  in  the  shells  of  living  foraminifera 
and  pteropods,  or  in  the  hard  parts  of  animals  of  other  classes.  That 
certain  inorganic  salts  other  than  the  salts  of  lime  exist  in  all  animal 
tissues,  soft  and  hard,  in  a  certain  proportion,  is  undoubted;  and  I 
hazard  the  speculation  that  d  -ring  the  decomposition  of  these  tissues 
in  contact  with  sea  water  and  the  sundry  matters  which  it  holds  in 
solution  and  suspension,  these  salts  may  pass  into  the  more  stable  com- 
pound of  which  the  red  clay  is  composed. 

"  Shortly  after  the  red  clay  has  assumed  its  most  characteristic 
form,  b}'  the  total  removal  of  the  calcareous  shells  of  the  foraminifera, 
at  a  depth  of  sa}"  3,000  fathoms,  the  deposit  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  man}' 
cases  begins  gradually  to  alter  again,  by  the  increasing  proportion  of 
the  shells  of  Radiolarians,  until,  at  such  extreme  depths  as  4,575  fath- 
oms, it  has  once  more  assumed  the  character  of  an  almost  purely  or- 
ganic foi'raation — the  shells  of  which  it  is  chiefly  composed  being, 
however,  in  this  case  siliceous,  while  in  the  former  \\\Qy  were  calcareous. 
The  radiolarian  ooze,  although  consisting  in  great  part  of  the  tests  of 
Radiolarians,  contains  even  in  its  purest  condition  a  very  considerable 
proportion  of  red  clay.  While  foraminifera  are  apparently  confined  to 
a  comparatively  superficial  belt,  Radiolarians  exist  at  all  depths  in  the 
water  of  the  ocean. 

"  The  distribution  over  the  bed  of  the  ocean  may  be  broadly  defined 
thus:  the  globigerina  ooze  covers  the  ridges  and  the  elevated  plateaus, 
and  occupies  a  belt  at  depths  down  to  2,000  fathoms  round  the  shores, 
outside  the  belt  of  shore  deposits;  and  the  red  clay  covers  the  floor  of 


3fesozoic  and  CcBtiozoic  Geology  (ind  Pala>.ontolofjy. 


11 


tho  (loop  depressions,  the  eastern,  tlie  northwestern,  and  the  south- 
western basins.  An  intornjediate  band  of  gray  ooze  occurs  in  the 
Atlantic  at  depths  averaging  [)erhaps  from  2,100  to  2,;{00  Cathonis. 

"  Over  the  redehiy  area,  as  niiglit  have  l)ecn  e\'pe('ted  IVoin  the 
mode  of  formation  of  tiio  red  clay,  th(!  pieces  of  pumice  and  tlie  re- 
cogniiiabhi  mineral  fragments  were  found  iu  greater  abundance;  for 
there  deposition  talces  place  much  more  slowly,  and  foreign  bodies  are 
less  readily  overwhelmed  and  masked;  so  abundant  are  such  fragments 
in  some  places,  that  the  fine  amori)hous  matter,  which  may  be  regarded 
as  the  ultimate  and  universal  basis  of  the  deposit,  a[)pcars  to  be 
present  only  in  small  proportion. 

"The  clay  which  co\'ers,  l)roadly  speaking,  the  bottom  of  the  sea  at 
depths  greater  than  2,000  fathoms,  Mr.  IMurray  considers  to  be  pro- 
duced, as  we  know  most  other  clays  to  be,  by  the  decomposition  of 
feldspathic  minerals;  and  1  now  believe  that  he  is  in  the  main  right. 
I  can  not,  however,  doubt  that  were  pumice  and  other  volcanic  pro- 
ducts entirely  al)sent,  there  would  still  be  an  impalpable  rain  over  the 
ocean-floor  of  the  mineral  matter,  which  we  know  must  be  set  free,  and 
must  enter  into  more  stable  combinations,  through  the  decomposition 
of  the  multitudes  of  organized  beings  which  swarm  in  the  successive 
layers  of  the  sea;  and  I  am  still  inclined  to  refer  to  this  source  a  great 
part  of  the  molecular  matter  which  always  forms  a  considerable  part 
of  a  red- clay  microscopic  preparation." 

It  is  quite  clear,  that  it  would  require  millions  of  years  for  an  ac- 
cumulation to  take  place  two  miles  in  thickness,  at  the  progress  now 
in  operation  in  the  Atlantic,  at  depths  from  three  to  five  miles.  And 
one  can  not  help  thinking  that  such  deposits  bear  strong  resemblance 
to  the  red  sandstones  of  the  Jurassic  and  Triassic  str.ita,  and  conclud- 
ing, unless  there  is  some  reason  to  be  drawn  from  other  sources,  to  in- 
fer a  more  rapid  deposition  in  the  formation  of  the  latter  strata  than 
that  which  prevails  at  the  present  time,  that  one  is  the  representative 
of  the  other  as  to  the  depth  of  the  ocean  and  the  material  and  method 
of  the  deposit.  If  this  be  so,  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic  rocks  represent 
an  age  of  vastly  greater  duration  than  the  combined  Cretaceous, 
Tertiar}'  and  Post-pliocene  periods. 

Palaeontology  may  not  follow  such  a  comparison  all  the  way  to  the 
final  conclusion,  but  it  walks  hand  in  hand  so  far  that  we  are  at  a  loss 
to  imagine  where  the  separation  maj'  be  made.  There  are  many 
classes  and  orders  of  animals  that  never  find  a  tomb  in  the  great 
depths  of  the  Atlantic,  there  are  others  that  start  for  that  goal  but 
reach  it  only  iu  the  shape  of  an  impalpable  powder,  "the  insoluble 


■?. ,'  '         ■; 


42 


C incinnati  Society  of  Natural  History. 


M  \ 


\m 


\'^  im 


residue,  the  anh  as  it  were  of  the  ealcarooiis  organisms."  And  as  to 
the  rest  they  are  sparsely  distributed.  In  tliis  resi)ect  the  comparison 
witli  the  Ti'iassic  and  Jurassie  is  most  favorable,  as  the  rarity  of  fos- 
sils in  the  hands  of  tho  collectors  very  clearly  testifies. 

But  when  we  examine  the  fossils  that  have  been  discovci'cd,  and 
note  the  evolution  of  forms,  and  compare  these  with  tlie  progress  in 
other  ages,  we  are  most  profoundly  impressed  witli  the  immense  lapse  of 
time  that  must  bo  ascribed  to  these  periods.  As  not  a  single  species 
that  is  found  in  rocks  earlier  than  tiio  Triassic,  and  not  one  that  is 
found  in  rocks  more  recent  than  the  Jurassic,  has  ever  been  found  in 
either  the  Triassic  or  Jurassic  strata,  we  are  sen*  at  once  to  tlio  genera 
for  comparison.     Let  us  first  turn  to  the  Vegetable  Kingdom. 

It  is  represented  in  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic  of  North  America  by 
66  described  species,  distributed  amouf  30  genera.  Twelve  of  these 
genera  are  also  of  pahieozoic  age,  viz.:  Cnhnnites,  Chomlrites,  Cyclop- 
teris,  Dadoxylou,  Fucoides,  JSTeuropleris.^  Noeyyerathia,  Odonfopteris, 
Pecopteris^  Sphenoptcris^  Taniiopteris,  and  Walchia ;  and  seven 
genera  are  found  in  the  Cretaceous,  or  more  recent  strata,  viz.:  Chon- 
drites, Eqnisetum,  Neuropteris,  Pecopteris,  Pterophyllum,  Sphenop- 
teris  and  Tmniopteris.  This  shows  that  five  genera  only,  or  one  sixth 
of  all  that  are  known,  passed  through  this  period,  aiul  that  during  this 
period  10  genera,  or  more  thai*  hidf  of  what  ?re  known,  came  into  ex- 
istence, and  also  became  extinct.  The  chanjio  of  forms,  as  thus  indi- 
cated, is  greater  than  that  which  has  occurred  to  the  Cretaceous  flora 
during  all  the  ages  that  have  elapsed  to  the  present  time. 

The  evidence  furnished  by  the  invertebrate  kingdom  is  no  less  strik- 
ing- 

Thus  far  no  species  belonging  to  the  Annelida  or  Crustacea,  has 
been  described  from  these  rocks,  and  the  onl}'  articulated  animal- 
found  fossil,  so  far  us  T  have  ascertained,  is  the  3Iormolucoides  arti- 
culatus,  described  by  Prof.  Hitchcock,  in  1858, — a  genus  unknown  in 
other  rocks.  The  class  Pteropoda  and  the  Rudista  are  unknown.  The 
class  Polypi  is  not  represented  b}'  a  described  species,  and  the  Cavea 
prisca  alone  represents  the  Br3'ozoa — another  genus  unknown  in  other 
rocks. 

The  Echinodermata  is  represented  by  an  Asterias  and  a  Pentacii' 
nus,  genera  unknown  in  the  Pala30zoic  age,  but  one  of  them  passed  up 
into  the  Cretaceous,  and  the  other  into  the  Tertiary  period. 

The  Brachiopoda  are  represented  b\'  eleven  species  belonging  to  the 
genera  Linyida,  lihynchonelln,  Spirifera  and  Terebratula.  All  of 
these  are  Palicozoic  genera,  and  all  of  them  have  continued  an   exis- 


3Iesozoic  and  ('cBiiozoic  Gcolof/if  and  PaUvontolorfi/. 


13 


tcnce  to  recent  times,  except  Spirifera,  wlilcli,  so  fjir  as  known,  ternii- 
natcil  its  career  in  the  Jurassic  aj^e. 

Tile  Gasteroi)o(la  is  represented  by  nine  species  belonyinj^  to  eiglit 
genera.  Two  of  tiiesc  generr  Dentaliton  and  Turho,  had  an  existenco, 
in  tlie  Palreozoic  age,  and  continued  to  live  until  tlie  Tertiary  period. 
One  genus  Lu)placodt;s  von\n\Q,nQO<\  aui\  tenniiiated  during  the  age  in 
question.  The  other  five  g(!nera,  JVcrilc/ld^  XcrUind,  Plnnorbis,  V<il- 
vata  and  Vivipavns  are  counted  among  the  living  Gasteropoda. 

The  Cephalopoda  is  represented  by  thirty  species  distributed  among 
seven  genera.  One,  the  J!^aafilus,  is  a  paheozoic  and  living  genus. 
Two,  Gonialites  and  Orfhoceras,  are  paheozoic  genera  that  closed  their 
existence  in  the  Jurassic  ago.  One,  Meekoceras,  is  confined  to  rocks  of 
the  age  in  question.  Tiio  other  three  genera,  Ammonitei>,  lielemnites 
and  Ceratitcs,  commenced  t'eir  existence  in  the  age  in  (question,  and 
terminated  their  career  in  the  Cretaceous  period. 

The  Lamellibranchiata  is  repi'csented  by  125  species  distributed 
among  ol  genera.  Six  genera,  Avicuht,  Cardium,  Lima,  Jfijfi/uf},  Os- 
trea  and  Pinna,  arc  reckoned  among  tlie  paheozoic  and  living.  Of  the 
other  45  genera,  eleven  of  them  are  pahtiozoic,  but  only  24  have  yet 
been  found  in  the  Cretaceous.  1*.)  of  these  are  Tertiary,  and  7  are  living, 
all  of  which  are  marine  except  Unio,  which  is  now  a  fresh-water  genus. 
Or  looking  at  this  most  numerously  represented  class  of  the  Inverte- 
brata  in  another  light,  wo  observe  that  of  the  51  genera  represented  in 
the  rocks  in  question,  13  genera,  or  more  than  25  per  cent.,  are  still  liv- 
ing. 21  genera  had  passed  awa3'  before  the  Cretaceous  period,  leaving 
30  genera  only  in  the  latter  period;  and  consequentl}'  only  17  of  these 
genera  have  expired  since  the  dawn  of  the  Cretaceous. 

The  vast  changes  in  the  vertebrate  kingdom  during  this  period,  and 
the  grand  passage  from  the  Batrachla  to  the  iMammalia,  evidences  the 
same  great  laspe  of  time  that  is  indicated  b}'^  other  organic  remain, 
and  Inferred  from  the  vast  thickness  and  extensive  distribution  of  the 
strata. 

The  class  Pisces  is  represented  by  fifteen  species  belonging  to  nine 
genera.  Two  of  these  genera,  Ambhjpterus  and  Pnlmoniscus,  are  also 
of  PalfEozoic  age.  The  other  seven  are  not  represented  so  far  as 
known  in  rocks  of  older  or  younger  age. 

The  class  Aves  is  represented  only  hy  Palaeonornis  struthionoides, 
a  bird  named  by  Prof.  Emmons,  in  1857 — a  genus,  however,  not  3'et 
clearly  defined  or  understood. 

The  class  Reptilia  is  represented  by  41  genera,  nona  of  which  are  of 
PfJffiozoic  age,  and  only  two,  Ladaps  and  Pterodactylus,  are  said  to 


44 


Gincinnnti  Society  of  uVatural  His  fori/. 


:.i'l 


reuc'li  the   Crfitaccons  era.     Wlierc  tracks  hiive  been  (loscrihod  now 
genera  in  all   iiistanr(>s  have;  Ix'cn  [)i'()po.s('(l. 

Tlu!  "^raniinalia  are  reiJieseiiteil  in  tiie  Triassic  nn-kn  by  I)fo)ntifh<;- 
riiDH  nflccsfrc,  dc^snibed  by  I'rof.  Emmons,  in  18r>7.  Vouv  j^cnera 
have  been  named  IVoin  the  Jurassie,  viz:  (Jtenacodov^  Drtjolcstcs, 
Styldcodoi)  and  Tinodon.  These  {genera  are  not  only  eonllned  to  the 
roeks  in  question,  but  they  are  not  releired  to  fanuliea  found  in  other 
rocks. 

Or  taken  as  a  whole,  the  vertebrate  kin_«>-dom  is  represented  by  hi 
genera,  two  of  whieh  only  are  referred  to  rocks  of  earlier  (bite,  and 
only  two  to  a  later  periocb 

These  calculations  are  based  ui)on  our  present  knowleilge  of  the 
fauna  and  flora,  but  as  new  discoveries  are  being  made  almost  (biily, 
we  can  not  tell  how  much  thej-  may  be  modified  in  future.  It  will  be 
observed,  however,  that  an  increased  number  of  species  will  not  change 
the  calculations,  and  that  an  increase  of  the  genera  is  more  likely  b^' 
adding  new  ones,  than  b}'  the  discovery  of  either  Palncozoic  or  Creta- 
ceous genera  in  these  rocks. 

Amphicadlas  frcif/illimus  was  described  by  Prof.  Cope,  from  near 
Canyon  City,  Colorado,  in  1878,  (See  Am.  Nat.  for  August.)  Ilypsir- 
hopus  secleyanus  should  have  been  referred  to  the  Jurassic  of  W^'om- 
ing,  instead  of  Colorado;  and  Palccoctonas  ((ppalachiantis,  Suchoprion 
(luliicodus,  C'lepsyscan'us  ceatlciauHs,  Suchopvion  cyphodott,  Thecodon- 
tosaai'Hs  gibbidcns,  and  PaheosaKVus  frazeranus  should  have  been  re- 
ferred to  York  County,  Pennsylvania,  instead  of  Phoenixville. 

We  will  now  pass  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic  periods  for  the  purpose 
of  considering  the  Cretaceous  or  last  period  that  is  referred  to  Mesozoic 


age. 


v^ 


RETACEOUS. 


\i 


The  existence  of  the  Cretacoous  formation,  upon  this  continent,  was 
lirst  determined  in  the  year  1827,  when  Dr.  S.  G.  Morton  and  Lardner 
Vanuxem*  compared  the  marl  of  New  Jersey  with  the  Cretaceous  of 
Europe,  called  by  the  French  la  craie  inftrieure  on  aucienne,  and  by 
the  English  the  Green  wSand  formation  or  Ferruginous  Sund-serles. 

In  1828,  Dr.  J.  E.  DeKayf  described,  from  New  Jersc}^,  Ammonites 
hippocrepis,  now  Scaphites  hii^pocrepis.,  and  A.  2)lacenta^  now  Placen- 
ticerus  placenta. 

[To  BE  Continued.] 

*  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  &  Arts,  vol,  12. 

t  Ann.  Lye.  Nat.  Hist.,  N.  Y.,  vol.  2. 


McHOZoic  (intl  (Ja'tiozoit;  frenhxiji  miil  Pnl<vo)ffol(>qy, 


46 


In  182'.),  Dr.  Morion  illustrated  a  soctloii  of  CrotJiceoiis  rocks,  27  8-12 
feet  ill  liei<3;lit,  found  in  ji  blulf,  on  the  niarjfin  of  Crosswiclc's  (hoek,  New- 
Jersey,  and  separated  the  Cretaceous  of  New  Jersey  and  Delaware  in- 
to the  lignite  strata  and  the  marl.  He  relied,  in  determining  the 
Cretaceous  age  of  the  rocks,  upon  the  genera  Terehratula,  Oryphwn, 
Exogyrd,  Ammonites^  lincnlites  and  Beleinnifes.  He  described,*  from 
an  excavation  for  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake  canal,  Ostreafalcatu, 
and  from  other  places,  Terehratula  harlani,  T.  frayilis^  T.  sayi^ 
Gryphcea  miifdhilis  and  G.  vomer. 

In  1830,f  he  published  his  Synopsis  of  the  Organic  Remains  of  the 
Feiruginous  Sand  Formation  of  the  United  States,  with  geological  re- 
marks. He  treated  of  the  distribution  of  the  strata,  and  mentioned 
many  localities  in  the  eastern  and  southern  States  where  they  are  ex- 
posed, and  also  discussed  the  mineralogical  characters  of  the  marls.  He 
described  Belemtiites  americanun,  B.  ambiyuus,  CucullcBa  vulgaris,  now 
Tdonearca  vulgaris,  Ammonites  delawarensis,  A.  vanuxenii,  Spatan- 
gus  Stella,  Ananchytes  crucifenis,  A.  cinctns,  A.  Jimbriatus  and  An- 
thophyllum  atlanticiim,  now  Monfivaltia  atlantica.  He  also  deter- 
uiinedthat  two  species,  figured  in  Sowerby's  Mineral  Couchology,  under 
the  names  of  Chama  heliotoidea  and  (J.  eonica,  belong  to  Say's  genus 
hlxogyra.  Sowerby  soon  after  adopted  his  determination,  which  was 
the  first  instance  in  which  the  genus  of  an  American  author  was 
adopted  in  Europe,  where  it  required  the  separation  of  the  species 
which  had  been  referred  to  an  older  genus. 

In  1833,J  he  published  a  Supplement  to  his  Synopsis,  in  which  he  il- 
lustrated and  described  Bostellaria  arenaria,  now  Anchura  arenaria, 
TorniteUa  hullata.  Conns  gyratiis,  Cytherea  excavata,  now  Cyprimeria 
excavata,  Cardita  decisa,  Clavagella  armata,  Plagiostoma  gregale, 
now  Spondylus  gregalis,  P.  pelagicnm,  now  Lima  pelagica,  Pecten 
perplanus,  P.  venastas,  Anomia  argentaria,  Gryphoia  plicatella,  Os- 
trea  falcata,  var.  nasuta,  0.  mesenterica,  0.    tortuosa,    0.    iirticosa, 


*  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  6,  part    1. 
t  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  &.  Arts.,  vols.  17  &  18. 
I  Am   Jour.  Sci.  &  Arts.,  vols.  23  &  24, 


;  > 


46 


C'retaccoui*. 


Teredo  tihialis,  now  PolfirfJirim  fifn'rilfs,  Terchrahiln  /iftrlani,  var.  dt's- 
coit/ca,  T.  hfirl<ini\  var.  rectitnfertt,  T.  /(tchrifittn,,  ii()\v  '/'creht'dfuhna 
Inchri/iiHi,  Pholdn  rifhtnut,  now  Mnrfcsn'  c/f/Kirn,  /f(i/fniun percifn'iins, 
Cfdurifes  did frefitm,  wow  IJidaris  didf.refiim,  (fli/pntsfer  Jforcd/is,  G. 
f/eometriciis,  and  Sj>n(((tiffns  iin(jii/d.  Some  of  the  species  whioli  ho 
(lesei'ibed  iijt  this  time,  iiiul  rofenod  to  tlieCretiieoous,  iire  now  rcpirded 
ns  of  Eocene  njj^o.  Anion^'  those  we  may  mention,  Nvmmiilif.es 
mnntelh\  \y\\\v\\  litis  been  the  sul)joct  of  much  discussion,  and  is  now 
referred  to  D'Orbigny's  jjjonus  OrhifoideH,  and  classed  with  the  Pro- 
tista, 

In  18;I4,  his  Synopsis  appeared,  illustrated  with  nineteen  plates,  and 
havintr  an  appendix,  containln<if  a  tabular  view  of  the  Tertiary  fossils 
hitherto  discovered  in  North  America.  He  said  that  he  cast  it,  as  "  a 
grain  of  sand,  on  the  mountain  of  oeological  knowledi>e,  which  has 
been  heaped  up  by  the  genius  and  industry  of  the  naturalists  of  l)oth 
hemispheres."  lint  the  carefulness  with  which  the  work  was  prepared, 
and  the  sound  discrimination  and  learning  displayed  upon  every  page, 
arc  so  obvious  that  one  is  struck  witii  astonishment,  in  comparing  it 
with  the  peurile  and  liy|)othetical  essays  which  emanated,  at  that  time, 
from  the  colleges  and  professed  teachers  of  geology.  It  was  not  only 
a  valuable  contribution  to  knowledge,  prepared  by  -^  physician,  during 
the  constant  interruptions  of  a  professional  life,  it  was  the  best 

work  which  had  appeared,  at  that  time,  upon  An.  ...an  Geology,  and 
one  that  will  continue  to  be  a  standard  of  science  for  many  decades  to 
com''. 

He  separated  the  Cretaceous  into  two  parts,  the  lower.  Ferruginous 
Sand,  and  the  upper,  Calcareous  Strata.  The  mineralogieal  characters 
of  the  Ferruginous  Sand  are  extremely  variable,  consisting,  for  the 
most  part,  however,  of  minute  grains,  collected  into  friable  masses  of  a 
bluish  or  greenish  or  grayish  color,  the  predominant  constituents  of 
which  are  silex  and  iron.  Iron  pyrites  is  found  in  profusion;  succinite, 
lignite  and  spheroidal  masses,  of  a  dark  green  color,  and  compact,  sandj' 
structure  are  not  uncommon.  The  calcareous  strata  consist  of  several 
varieties  of  carbonate  of  lime,  the  principal  of  which  are  as  follows: 
an  extremely  friable  mass,  containing  silex  and  iron,  and  about 
37  per  cent,  of  lime,  composed  almost  entirely  of  disintegrated 
zoophytes  ;  a  yellowish  or  straw  colored  limestone,  full  of  organic 
remains  ;  a  granular  or  subcrystalline  limestone,  intermediate  in 
structure  between  the  former  two;  and  a  white,  soft  limestone,  not 
harder  than  some  coarse  chalks  and  replete  with  fossils.  All  these  va- 
rieties are  occasionall}'   infiltrated    by  silicious  matter,   and   contain 


Menozolc  finil  Ca'nozon;   Otohnjij  oiitl   Piilwoiifuloi/;/, 


r 


musses  of  elicil,  iiiul  als(»  |)ri!ScMit  some  iiiipciiniiu'i'S  of  tlu'  ^^ri'cii  ;^riiiiis 
HO  fluinicteristic  of  tlio  ;nljiuL'Ul  marls. 

The  ('rotiiecous  formation  is  unofiiiivooally  rcroj^iiizcMl  iu  New 
Jersey,  from  whence  It  r.my  be  loeally  traced  Lhroii<j;li  Delaware,  Mary- 
land, Virginia,  North  and  South  ('arollna,  Alabama,  Mussissippi,  Ten- 
nessee, Lonislana,  Arkansas  and  Missonri,  it  is  also,  probably,  traced 
to  Lon<jf  Island,  and  |)robably  forms  the  snbstratnm  of  the  islands  of 
Nantncket  and  Martha's  Vim^yard.  "These  various  deposits"  he 
says,  "though  seeminj^ly  insulated, are  (Umbtless  continnons,  or  nearly 
so,  forming  an  irrcjjjnlar  crescent,  nearly  ;{,000  miles  in  extent;  and 
there  is  not  only  a  generic  accordance  between  the  fossil  shells  scat- 
tered throngh  this  vast  tract,  bnt  in  by  far  the  greater  nnndter  of 
com[)atisons  I  have  hitherto  been  able  to  make,  the  same  species  of 
fossils  are  fonnd  thronghoiit:  thns,  the  Amuioiiitcs  pliicentn,  linculUtix 
oiuitiis,  Gi'ypluvd  Homer,  G,  viufafn/ia,  and  Osft'cd  falcjifn,  are  fonnd 
withont  a  shadow  of  difference  from  New  Jersey  to  Louisia  'i ;  although 
some  species  have  l>een  fonnd  in  the  latter  State  that  have  not  been 
noticed  in  the  former,  and  vice  versa.'^ 

The  calcareous  strata  appear  to  be  much  less  extensively  distribut- 
ed than  the  friable  n  arls,  and  present  considerable  dilference  in  their 
organic  characters,  and  always  when  observed  form  the  overlying  beds 
of  this  formation. 

Two  sections  of  the  strata,  as  observed  in  Delaware,  are  furnished. 
Localities  of  exposure  are  mentioned  in  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  and 
South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Tennessee,  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  Missouri,  and  in  the  level  country  between  the  Missouri  river 
and  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Ho  described:  NaiitUus  dekayi,  Ammonites  navicularis,  A.  pet- 
echialis,  A.  telifer,  A.  conrndi,  now  Scaphites  conradi,  A.  conradi,  var. 
yulosus,  now  Scaphites  conradi,  var.  yulosus,  Scaphites  reniformis.  A, 
vespertinus^  now  Jlortoniceras  vespertinum,  A.  syrtalis,  now  Placenti- 
ceras  syr talis,  Bacalites  asper,  B.  carinatus,  B,  colunma,  B.  labyrin- 
thicus,  Hamiles  arciilus,  H.  torquatus,  II.  traheatus,  Trochus  leprosas, 
noAV  Phorus  leprosus,  Deiphinnla  lapidosa,  now  Angaria  lapidosa. 
Turritellaencrinoides,  T.  vertebroides,  Scalaria  sillimani,  S.  annalata, 
Rostellaria  pennata,  JSlatica  ahyssina,  now  Gyrodes  abyssina,  JY. 
petrosa,  now  G.  petrosus.  Cirrus  o'otaloides.  Patella  tentorium,  Ostrea 
cretace'a,  0.  plumosa,  Pecten  craticula,  Plaouna  scabra^  Inoceramus 
barabini,  I.  alveatus,  Avicula  lariiies,  Pectunculus  australis,  now 
Axinoia  australis,  P.  hamula,  now  A.  hamula,  Area  rostellata,  now 
C'ibota  rostellata,  Cucullcea  antrosa^  now  Idonearca  antrosa,  V.  vul- 


m 


'I'M 
I  I 
!  iM 


:i-i! 


•I 


^i! 


48 


Cretaceous. 


M      W 


\t 


l»     !'■''' 


yarfs,  notv  /.  vulgaris,  Crassatella  vadosu,  Pholadomya  occidentalism 
Trigonia  thoracica,  Venilia  conradi,  uovv  Veniella  conradi, 
Tercbratula  floridana,  Serpula  barbaia,  Hamulus  onyx,  C'assidulus 
wquoreus,  Clypeaster  geometricus,  Flustra  sagena,  now  IHiophloia 
sageiia,  Eschara  digitata,  Alveolites  capularis.  Turbinolia  inauris  and 
Gryphoia  pitcheri.  The  latter  species  was  collected  by  Dr.  Z.  Pitcher, 
on  the  Kiamechia,  a  stream  v.hich  empties  into  the  Red  river,  a  few 
miles  above  Fort  Towson,  when  on  a  tour  with  a  small  military  force, 
marking  out  a  road  from  Fort  Smith  to  Fort  Towson.  Dr.  Pitcher  and 
M.Jules  Marcou  referred  the  rocks  to  the  Jurassic,  and  JNIarcou  claims 
that  the  species  is  distinct  from  that  which  abounds  in  the  Cretaceous 
of  Texas,  and  farther  west  which  is  now  so  universally  referred  to  this 
species.  The  weight  of  authority,  howev'er,  is  in  favor  of  the  identity 
of  the  fossils,  and  the  Cretaceous  age  of  the  specimens  described  by  Dr. 
Morton. 

lu  1835,  in  an  appendix  to  his  Synopsis  of  Organic  Remains,  he 
separated  the  Cretaceous  into  upper,  middle  and  lower  divisions.  In 
the  upper  division  he  placod  the  Cretaceous  of  South  Carolina,  and 
the  Nummulite,  o»'  Orbitoides  limestone  of  Alabama,  which  has  since 
been  regarded  as  of  Eocene  age.  The  middle  division  is  partially 
seen  at  Wilmingtoii,  North  Carolina,  and  to  a  considerable  extent  in 
New  Jersey.  The  lower  division  embraces  the  vast  Ferruginous  strata 
of  the  Atlantic  and  Southern  States.  He  enumerated  the  fossil  species 
which  he  regarded  as  most  characteristic  of  these  divisions,  and  de- 
scribed Plogiostoma  echinatum,  now  Spondylns  echinatus. 

In  183<!,  Dr.  Harlaa  described*  fchthyosaurus  )nissur!ensis,  now 
Mosasaiirus  missuriensis. 

In  1836,  Dr.  Dekay  describedf  Geosaurus  niitchelli,  now  Liodoii 
mitchelli. 

In  1838,  Prof.  Bronn  described,;!;  from  the  greer.sand,  3Iosasaurus 
dekay  i. 

In  1840,  Prof.  Henry  Rogers§  divided  the  Cretaceous,  which  is  ex- 
posed in  the  southern  half  of  New  Jersey,  northwest  of  a  gentle  undu- 
lating line,  drawn  from  Shark  Inlet,  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  to  Salem, 
into  five  separate  beds,  in  ascending  order,  as  follows: 

First. — A  group  of  sands  and  clays,  of  several  colors,  and  of  some- 
what variable  constitution,  but  frequently  of  extreme  whiteness  and 


*  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc,  vol.  4. 
t  Ann.  Lye.  N'at.  Hist.  N.  Y.,  vol.  3. 
I  Lethaea  Geognostica. 
i  Geo.  of  New  Jersey. 


;■? 


3fesozo}c  find  Ciftiozoic  Geoloyy  and  Pfdwontoloijy. 


49 


remarkable  purity.  Among  those  occur  beds  of  pure  potter's  clay. 
This  division  of  the  general  series  rests  along  its  northwest  margin, 
from  the  Raritan  to  the  As^u  ipink,  in  an  unconfoimable  manner  upon 
the  middle  secondary  rocks,  and  from  the  Shipetaukin  to  the  Delaware, 
upon  the  upturned  strata  of  the  primary  belt.  It  contains,  toward  its 
upper  b*^ds,  much  of  the  dark  blue  sandj-  cla}-,  which  is  also  associated 
with  the  overlying  greensand,  from  which  it  is  not  separated  by  any 
well-defined  limit. 

Second. — A  somewhat  mixed  group,  consisting  of  beds  almost 
wholly  composed  of  greensand,  in  a  loose  and  granular  condition,  al- 
ternating with  and  occasionally  replaced  by  layers  of  a  blue,  sandy, 
micaceous  cla}'.  This  is  the  "  greensand  formation,"  properl}'  so 
called.  Having  been  used,  however,  for  agricultural  purposes,  it  has 
acquired  the  name  of  marl.  It  comprises,  strictly  speaking,  several 
subordinate  beds,  all  belonging,  however,  to  two  principal  varieties. 
In  the  first  of  these,  the  green,  granular  mineral  is  the  predominant 
and  characteristic  ingredient.  The  second  consists,  on  the  other 
hand,  of  a  dark-blue  clay,  mingled  with  more  or  less  silicious  sand. 
This  latter  material  constitutes  the  usual  floor  upon  which  the  true 
greensand  deposit  rests  ;  and  it  occurs,  in  like  manner,  especially  in 
the  northern  and  eastern  portions  of  Monmouth  county,  both  above 
the  Mppermost  visible  greensand,  and  included  between  its  beds  in  one 
or  more  alternations. 

Third. — Immediately  overlj'ing  the  greensand  formation  near  its 
southeastern  border,  there  are  several  limited  exposures  of  a  yellowisli 
granular  limestone,  of  rather  crystalline  structure,  and  frequently  sili- 
cious composition.  This  rock  exists  in  rather  irregular,  thin,  flaggy 
bands,  usually  from  one  to  three  inches  thick.  Between  these  there 
are  often  thin  layers  of  loose,  granular,  calcareous  sand,  identical,  or 
nearl}'  so,  with  the  matter  of  the  rock,  but  destitute  of  cohesion.  This 
formation  contains  a  profusion  of  organic  remains,  many  of  which  be- 
long in  like  manner  to  the  underlying  greensand,  though  s(»me  occur 
in  it  alone.  Restii-g  usuall}^  in  direct  contact  with  the  greensand 
stratum,  it  contains  often  a  moderate  proportion  of  the  green  granular 
mineral,  sprinkled  throughout  its  mass.  It  is  useful  as  a  source  of 
lime  in  a  district  where  there  is  no  other  calcareous  stratum. 

Fourth. — A  yellow,  very  ferruginous,  coarse  sand,  containing  some- 
times a  small  proportion  of  the  green  mineral.  This  stratum  is  in 
some  places  thirty  feet  thick.  In  the  Nevesink  Hills,  and  in  one  or 
two  other  localities,  it  occurs  as  a  soft  sandstone,  containing  hollow 
casts  of  fossil  shells.     Throughout  much  of  the  <entral  portion  of  the 


50 


Cretaceous. 


greensand  region,  this  bed  is  in  the  condition  of  a   loose  sand,  but 
abounds  in  organic  remains  in  the  state  of  solid  casts. 

Fifth. — Resting  upon  the  former,  and  constituting  the  highest  as- 
certained member  of  the  Cretaceous  series  in  the  State,  there  occurs  a 
coarse,  brown,  ferruginous  sandstone,  sometimes  passing  into  a  con- 
glomerate. It  is  composed  of  translucent  quartzose  sand,  small  frag- 
ments of  felspar,  and  pebbles  of  white  quartz,  cemented  together  by  a 
dark  brown  paste  of  oxide  of  iron.  The  green  mineral  in  detached 
grains  is  likewise  a  common  ingredient.  The  position  of  this  rock  is 
usuall}^  upon  the  summits  of  the  insulated  outlying  hills,  which  rise 
occasionally  above  the  general  plain  of  the  marl  region. 

This  division  into  beds  is  merely  descriptive  of  the  local  appearance 
of  the  Cretaceous  of  New  Jerse3%  and  has  never  been  regarded  as  of 
any  service  in  the  separation  of  the  Cretaceous,  in  other  States,  into 
groups,  nor  has  it  been  retained  in  New  Jersey',  sine*  the  geologists 
have  been  able  to  separate  the  strata  by  their  organic  rv^nains. 

In  1841,  James  C.  Booth,  in  his  Memoir  of  the  Geological  Survey  of 
Delaware,  divided  the  Cretaceous  of  that  State,  which  is  found  super- 
imposed upon  the  primary  rocks,  and  extends  from  the  lower  limit  of 
the  primary  nearly'  to  the  southern  border  of  New  Castle  county,  into 
red  clay,  and  green  and  yellow  sands.  He  estimated  the  thickness  at 
not  less  than  330  feet. 

In  this  year,  Prof,  J.  W.  Bailey*  discovered  that  a  large  part  of  the 
calcareous  green  sand  of  New  Jers  y,  the  limestone  from  Claiborne, 
Alabama,  and  a  light  cream-colored  marl  from  a  mission  station  on 
the  Upper  Mississippi,  called  "  Prairie  C  alk,"  is  composed  of  micro- 
scopic shells  belonging  to  the  foraminifca. 

In  1842,  Dr.  Mortonf  described,  from  the  Cretaceous  of  *the  upper 
Missouri  river.  Ammonites  niandanensis,  A.  abyssinus  and  A.  nicol- 
letti,  all  of  which  are  now  referred  to  the  genus  Scaphites,  and  to  the 
Fox  Hills  Group  ;  Hipponyx  boreal  is,  now  Anisomyou  borealis, 
Cytherea  missuriana,  now  Dione  missuriana  and  Tellina  occiden- 
talism now  Lucina  occidentalis.  And  from  tiie  Cretaceous  group,  of 
New  Jerse\',  Ammonceratit.es  conradi,  now  Crioceras  conradi,  Ham- 
ites  annulifer,  now  Ptychoceras  a  nnv  lifer  urn.,  Pinna  rostriformis, 
Terebratula  ailantica,  Planularia  cuneata,  Cidarites  armirter.  And 
Ptycodus  mortoni,  by  Mantell,  from  the  Cretaceous,  at  Prairie  Bluff, 
Alabama.     Dr.   James  E.    Dekay,   described,;];    from    the  Cretaceous 


'•'  Am.  Jour.  S'd.  and  Arts,  vol.  41. 
t  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sei.,  vol.  8,  part  2. 
X  ZoolofNew  York. 


Mesozoic  and  Camozoic  Geology  and  Paloiontoloyy. 


51 


irreensand,  GaviaUs  neocoBsariensfs,  now  Thoracosaurus  ncoca'sarien- 
sis. 

In  184:3,  Prof.  Mather*  ascertained  that  beneath  the  drift,  and  above 
the  New  Red  Sandstone,  there  exists  a  deposit  of  sand,  cla^',  gravel  and 
pebbles,  on  the  Island  of  New  York,  Staten  Island,  Long  Island  and 
Gardener's,  Plum,  Shelter,  Governor's  and  Bellow's  Islands,  which  he 
referred  to  the  Cretaceous.  Sections  furnished  by  the  digging  of  wells 
indicated  a  thickness  of  80  or  90  feet.  He  also  regarded  the  exposure 
of  trappean  rocks  in  Rockland  and  Richmond  counties,  New  York,  as 
more  recent  than  the  New  Red  Sandstone. 

In  1844,  Dr.  jNIortonf  described,  from  New  Jersey,  Crocodilus  cla- 
I'irostris.  And  Dr.  Robert  AY.  Gibbes,  from  the  greensand  near  the 
Santee  canal,  about  3  miles  from  Cooper  river,  in  South  Carolina,  Doru- 
don  serratus,  now  Thoracosaurus  veoca'sariensis 

In  184r),+  L3-ell  and  Sowerby  described,  from  Timber  creek.  New 
Jersey,  Ostrea  snbspatidata,  Lyell  and  Forbes  described  Lima  reticul- 
ata, Terebratula  vanuxemi,  now  Terebratella  vannxemi,  Bulla  mor- 
<on/,  and  William  Lonsdale  described /rfwzonea  contortilfs,  Ihihalipora 
megaira,   now  Filifascigera  megwra,   and    Cellepora   tubulata. 

Goldfuss  described^  3Iosasaurus  maximiliani,  now  M.  missuriensis. 

In  1840,  Dr.  P'erdinand  Rocmer||  ascertained  the  character  of  the 
Cretaceous  rocks  of  Texas,  and  compared  them  with  the  chalk  of 
Europe,  and  greensand  of  New  Jersey,  and  claimed  that  they  repre- 
sented the  upper  part  of  the  Cretaceous  formation.  He  mentioned  their 
occurrence  at  New  Braunfels,  and  ranging  very  far  on  both  sides  of 
the  Guadaloupe,  and  everywhere  parallel  to  the  chain  of  high  hills 
which  separate  the  Indian  country  from  the  settled  part  of  Texas.  He 
followed  them  as  far  as  Austin  on  the  Colorado,  and  collected  fossils 
in  them  at  San  Antonio,  and  on  the  Pedernales  river.  East  of  a  line 
drawn  through  San  Antonio,  New  Braunfels  and  Austin,  the  surface  is 
covered  with  strata  more  recent  than  the  Cretaceous;  it  is  generally 
composed  of  a  thick  diluvium  of  loose  materials,  consi  'ting  either  of 
a  fertile  vegetable  mould,  or  of  rounded  pieces  of  hvdrate  of  iron,  or  of 
sand  and  gravel. 

In  1848,^  he  statei]  that  an  ideal  line,  drawn  from  Presidio  de  Rio 
Grande,  on  the  Rio  Grande,  in  a  N.  E.  direction,  and  crossing  the  San 


•M 


% 


*  Geo.  Sur.  N.  Y.  t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat. 

i  Quiir.  Jour.  Geo.  Soc,  vol.  1. 

?  Act.  Nov.  Leop.  Cnes.  Nat.  Cur. 

II  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  2d  sor  ,  vcl.  1. 

U  Am.  .Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  2d  sor.  vol,  6. 


&ci. 


52 


Cretaceous. 


% 


■M 


m 


Antonio  river,  at  the  town  of  the  same  name,  the  Guadaloupe  at  New 
Braunfels,  the  Colorado  jvt  Austin,  the  Brazos  at  the  falls  of  this  river, 
the  Trinity  below  its  forks,  antl  reachin<^  from  there  to  the  Red  river 
in  the  same  N.  E.  direction,  divides  the  Tertiary  strata,  and  the  dilu- 
vial and  alluvial  deposits  (of  the  level  and  rolling  part  of  the  country) 
from  theCretaceous  and  older  formations  (of  the  hilly  and  mountainous 
sections)  of  Texas.     The  tract  of  level  country  which  extends  like  a 
broad  belt  along  almost  the  whole  coast  of  Texas,  is  diluvial  and  partly- 
alluvial  in  character.     Its  small  elevation  of  a  few  feet  only  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  and  its  perfectly  level  surface,  indicate,  at  once,  the 
recent  origin  of  the  soil.     The  fossil  remains  found  in  many  places  in 
the  deposits  of  clay  and  sand,  prove  their  modern  age  still  more  con- 
clusively.   At  the  head  of  Galveston  Bay,  and  near  the  town  of  Houston, 
he  found,  at  the  height  of  12  to  20  feet  above  the  general  level  of  the 
Ba3%  large  deposits  of  shells  of  Gnathodon,  a  bivalve  mollusc,  which  lives 
abundantly  in  the  brackish  waters  along  the  coast   of  the   Gulf  of 
Mexico,  and  in  the  Bay  of  Galveston,  and  a  few  oyster  shells  of  the 
common  kind,  but  no  shells  different  from  those  living  in  the  Bay. 
Everything  tending  to  whow  that  there  had  been  no  moterial  change  in 
the  climate,  nor  other  circumstances  since  the  period  of  these  deposits 
along  K.^  coast  of  Texas,  except  in  the  relative  change  of  the  level  of 
land  and  sea.     To  the  diluvial  period  he  referred  the  deposits  of  clay 
and  sand  which  form  the  banks  of  the  Brazos,  and  probably  all  the 
other  large  rivers  of  the  country  wherein  he  found  the  bones  of  the 
Mastodon,  Megalonyx,  Tapir  and  other  mammals.    To  the  same  period 
he  referred  the  deposits  of  gravel  and  sand,  which  form  a  broad  belt 
of  barren  or  poor  land  covered  with  pine  and  post  oak  timber,  in  the 
rolling  or  undulating  portion  of  Texas,  and  extending  from  "vest  to 
east  across  a  considerable  part  of  the  country.     Following  up  «he  Co- 
lorado from  Columbus  to  Bastrop,  or  the  Guadaloupe  from  Gonzales 
to  Seguin,  we  pass  directly  across  this   belt.     The  gravel  is  mostly 
composed  of  pebbles  of  silex,  evidently  derived  from  decomposed  Cre- 
taceous strata.     Within  the  limits  of  this  gravel  iormation,  fossil  wood 
of  dicotyledonous  trees,  in  smaller  or  larger  fragments,  is  found  almost 
everywhere,  and  occasionally  whole  trunks  of  trees  are  met  with.    Near 
the  town  of  Caldwell,  on  the  Upper  Brazos,  he  found  alternating  strata 
of  brown  ferruginous  sandstone,  and  of  dark-colored  plastic  clay,  both 
teeming  with  fossils  belonging  to  the  older  divisions  of  the  Tertiary 
period 

The  Cretaceous  strata  which  makes  the  most  important  part  in  the 
geological  constitution  of  Texas,  and  chiefly  he  upper  hilly  part,  is 


Mesozoic  and  dvnozoic  Geology  and  Palwonlology. 


r)3 


found  north  of  tlic  line  above  indicated,  covering  the  whole  area  of 
country  with  the  exception  of  small  ex[)09ui'es  of  Silurian  and  Carbon- 
iferous strata  and  granitic  rocks.  The  Cretaceous  strata  constitute, 
generally,  compact  and  hard  rocks,  some  of  them  equaling  in  compact- 
ness the  hardest  strata  of  more  ancient  secondary'  formations.  Gener- 
ally there  is  an  alternation  of  compact  silicious  limestones,  and  less 
compact  beds  of  either  pure  or  marly  limestone.  The  former  contain 
the  silex  as  well  diffused  through  their  whole  mass,  as  in  separate  con- 
cretions or  nodules.  T'o  siiicious  character  of  these  rocks,  excluding 
the  decomposing  action  of  the  atmosphere,  almost  entirely  produces 
the  general  dry  and  barren  aspect  of  the  country  which  tliey  oceup}-. 
He  pointed  out  the  differences  between  the  Cretaceous  fauna  of  Texas, 
and  that  of  New  Jersey  and  other  northern  localities,  and  compared 
the  fauna  with  that  of  P^urope,  from  whence  he  concluded  that  there 
must  have  existed  at  the  time  of  the  Cretaceous  period  between  the 
continents  of  Europe  and  America,  such  a  relation  that,  in  both,  the 
same  modifications  in  the  zoological  character  distinguished  the  marine 
fauna  of  the  north  from  that  of  the  south.  From  thence  he  drew 
the  interesting  conclusion,  that  the  same  southern  inflection  of  the 
isothermal  lines,  which  is  st  present  so  remarkable  in  their  course 
from  the  west  side  of  the  continent  of  Europe,  toward  the  east  side  of 
the  continent  of  America,  already  existed  at  a  period  of  the  globe  as 
remote  as  that  of  the  Cretaceous  formation. 

In  1849,  Prof  Ovven*  described,  from  the  greensand  of  New  Jersey, 
Crocodilus  basifisntis,  C.  basilrnncatvs^  now  llolops  hasitruncatua, 
Macrosaurus  loivis  and  Ilyposaurus  rogersL 

In  1850,  T.  A.  Conradf  describe  ^  from  Timber  Creek,  New  Jersey, 
Catopygus  oviformis. 

In  1851,  Dr.  Gibbes];  described,  from  South  Carolina,,  Mosasaurus 
acutidens.  M.  brumby i,  M.  caroUnensis,  31.  couperl,  and  M.  minor. 
And  Dr.  Leidy§  described  JHscosaurus  vetustus,  now  CimoUasaurus 
vetustus,  and  Conosaurus  boivmnni. 

In  1852,  Dr.  D.  D.  Owen||  described,  from  the  Fox  Hills  of  Nebraska, 
Ammonites  nebrascensis,  A.  cheyenneniiis,novf  ScapJiites  cheyennensifi, 
A.  opalus,  A.  moreauensis,  now  S.  moreauensis,  A.  lenticularis,  now 
Placenticeras  lejiticulare,   Scaphites    cotnpriniKS,    S.    nodosus,     Ino- 


''■'  Quar.  Jour.  Geo.  Soc,  vol.  5. 

t  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci,,  2J  scr.  vol.  2. 

X  Smithsonian  Contributions,  vol.  2. 

§  Proc.  Acad.  Nat,  Sci. 

i  Rep.  Geo.  Sur   Wis.,  Iowa  and  Minn. 


»4 


Cretnceous. 


I  ■  '!:■:.. 


ceramus  sagensin,    I.   nebrascensis,  and  OuculUvn  nebra»censis,  now 
Idonearca  nchrascensis. 

Dr.  Joseph  Ltidj'*  described,  from  the   grcensand   of  New  Jersey', 
Crocodilns  dekayi.jf 

Dr.  Fei'd.  RoomerJ  described,  from  the  Cretaceous  rocks  of  Texas, 
ActwoneUa  dolium,  Ammonites  dentoto-carhiatus,  A.flaccidicosta,  A. 
guadahipw, Arcopaffut  texona,  Astarte  li)ieolaf,f<\Astroc(enia  gnadalupa;, 
Avlcula  convexo-plana,  A.  pedeninlis,  A.  plan/uscitht,  Caprina  crasni- 
Jibra,  C.  guadahipce,  Caprotina  texana,  Cardium  elegnntulum,  now  Lef- 
opistha  eleganttfla,  C.  sancf.Lsaba;,  Chemnitzia  glort'oaa,  Cyphosoma 
texanum,  Cypricardla  texann,  Diadema  texannm,  Eiilima  texnna, 
Exogyra  arietina,  E.  ki'V/nscidn^  E.  ponderosa,  E.  texnnn,  Emus 
pedernalls,  Globiconcha  con/J'ormt'.s;  G.  planata,  Hemiaster  texanus, 
Hlppurites  texanus,  Ilolectypus  planattift,  Ilomomya  alia,  Tnoceram- 
us  conferlim-anniilatiis,  I,  nndtdato-plicatus^  Lamna  texana,  Lima 
crenulicosta,  L.  wncoensis,  Modiohi  concentrico-cos'tellata,  now  Vohella 
conceni)u'co-costellatn,M.grffni(lalo-c(inceUat(t,  now  Crenella grannlato- 
cancellata,3f.2Jedernalis,nowVolseUapedernalis,3fonopleurastibtrique- 
tra,  M.  texana,  3fytiliis  semiplicatus,  31.  tenuitesta,  Natica  jyedernalis, 
now  Lunatia  pedenialis.  If.  pra-grandls,  Kerinea  ftciis,  If.  texnna, 
Urbifulites  texanun,  now  Tinoporm  texanus,  Ostrea  anomiaaformis,  O. 
crenulimargo,  O.  aucelln,  Pecten  diiplicicostn,  now  Neitliea  diiplicicos- 
ta,  P.  texnna,  now  If.  texnna,  Pholadomya  pedernnlis,  Psammobia 
cancellnto  sculpta,  now  Gnri  cancellato-sculpta,  lindioUtes  austinensis, 
Scalaria  texana,  now  Anchura.  texnna,  Scaphites  semicostatus,  S. 
fejanus,  Solen  irrndinns,  Spondylus  guadnlupce,  Terebratida  gund- 
alupce,  T.  wncoensis,  Toxaster  texnnus,  Turrilites  brnzoensis,  and 
Turritella  serintim-granulntn. 

In  1853,  T.  A.  Conrad§  described,  from  San  Felipe  creek,  near  Rio 
Grande,  Texas,  Exogyra  caprinn;  from  New  Jerse3%  Avicida  ahrupta, 
A.  petrosa,  Solenomya  plamdntn,  now  Legiimen  xtlanulatus,  Crassa- 
telln  sub  pinna.  Area  uniopsis,  TeUina  densnta,  Lucina  pinguis,  now 
Tenea  pinguis,  Pecten  quinqiienaria,  now  Neithea  quinqiiennria, 
Cardium j}rotextum.i  Veniiia  rhomboiden,  now  Venielln  rhomboidea, 
Astnrte  parilis,  Dentnlium  subarcuatum,  Tnoccramus  perovaUs, 
lieqiiienia  senseni  and  Pholns  pectorosa. 


If       i  :,. 


*  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  2d  ser.  vol.  2 
t  Smithsonian  Contributions,  vol.  2. 
I  Kreid.  von  Texas. 
I  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sui.,  2d  ser.  vol.  2. 


Mesozoic  and  Cvunozoic  Geology  and  Pulmontoloyy. 


55 


In  1854,*  the  Cretaceous  formation  of  Nebraska  was  subdivided  by 
Hall  and  Meek,  in  ascending  order,  as  follows: 

1.  Sandstone  and  claj',  90  feet. 

2.  Clay  containing  a  few  fossils,  80  feet. 

3.  Calcareous  marl,  containing  Ostrea  congesta,  scales  of  fishes,  etc., 
100  to  150  feet. 

4.  Plastic  clays,  with  calcareous  concretions,  containing  numerous 
fossils,  250  feet.  This  is  the  principal  fossiliferous  bed  of  the  Cre- 
taceous formation  on  the  Upper  Missouri. 

5.  Arenaceous  clan's  passing  into  argillo  calcareous  sandstones,  80 
feet. 

These  subdivisions  were  referred  to,  by  these  numbers,  until  18f>l, 
when  Meek  and  Hayden,  in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  nomenclature, 
gave  them  the  following  geographical  names:  No.  1,  Dakota  Group; 
No.  2,  Fort  Benton  Group;  No.  3,  Niobrara  Group;  No.  4,  Fort  Pierre 
Group;  and  No.  5,  Fox  Hills  Group. 

They  described  from  No.  5,  at  Fox  Hills,  Pecten  rigida,  now  Syn- 
cyclonema  rigidum,  from  the  Bad  Lands  of  Dakota,  BacuUtes  grandfs; 
from  No.  4,  at  the  Great  Bend  of  the. Missouri,  below  Fort  Pierre, 
Avicula  haydeni,  Tnoceranuis  convexits,  I.  tc  'j'Uneatus,  T.  subloivls^ 
Nucula  subnasiUa,  now  Nnculana  ifuhna'ni.u,  Buccinum  vinculum, 
now  Truchytriton  vinculum,  Ammonites  complexus,  Turrilites 
cochleaius,  now  Ileteroceras  cochleatum:  from  Sage  creek,  Nucula 
ventricosa,  now  Yoldia  venfricosa,  Crassatella  evansi,  Lucina  subun- 
data,  Dentalium  gracile,  Actoion  concinnus,  now  Cinulia  concinna, 
Fusus  tenuilineatus,  now  Closteriscus  tenuiUneotus,  Katica  concinna, 
now  Lunatia  concinna,  JSFatica  paladiniformis,  now  Amauropsis, 
paludiniformis,  Funu.s  con.strictus,  now  Odontobasis  conslricta;  from 
No.  2,  near  tlie  mouth  of  Vermilion  river,  Tnocernmus  frag  His  \h'on\ 
below  the  mouth  of  James  river,  Cytherea  orbiculata,  now  Callista 
orbiculata  and  C  tenuis;  from  No.  1,  at  the  mouth  of  Big  Sioux  river,  on 
the  Missouri,  Pectunculus  siouxensis,  now  Trigonarca  sioiixensis. 

Dr.  Geo.  G.  Shumardf  found  the  Cretaceous  rocks  at  Fort  Washita, 
and  extending  from  there  uninterruptedly  to  the  southwestern  boun- 
dary of  the  Cro  5«  Timbers,  in  Texas.  It  usually  consists  of  grayish 
yellow  sandstone,  with  intercalations  of  blue,  yellow  and  ash  colored 
clays,  and  beds  of  white  and  bluish  white  limestone.  The  limestone 
reposes  on  the  clays  and  sandstones,  and  in   some  places   attains   a 


AW 


1J  = 


V 


'■'  Mem.  Ain.  Acad.  Arts  <fe  Sci.,  vol    5. 

t  Expl.  of  lied  River,  of  Louisiana,  by  Marcy. 


56 


Cretaceous. 


I  ■iij'ij 


r    i: 


thickness  of  100  foot.  It  is  usually  soft  and  friable,  and  liable  to  dis- 
integrate rapidly  when  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  weather.  At  Fort 
Washita  he  found  Ammonites  several  feet  in  diameter,  and  weighing 
between  400  and  500  pounds. 

Dr.  B.  F.  Shumard  described  Oatren  subovata,  Asturte  Wnshitensis, 
Cardium  multistriatum,  now  ProtoconUa  multistrinta,  Pavopnia  tex- 
ana,  Terebratula  choc  fa  wens  is,  Globiconcha  clevata,  G.  tumida, 
Eulima  subfasiformis^  Ammonites  acuticarinatus,  A.  marcianus,  Ile- 
miaster  eler/ans,  now  Toxaster  ele(/ans,  and  Tlohister  simplex. 

Dr.  Leidy*  described,  from  near  Greenville,  Clark  county,  Arkansas, 
Brimosaurus  grandis,  now  Cimoliiisauriis  yrandis.  And  Evans  tk  Shu- 
mard described,  from  Sago  creek,  Nebraska,  Avicula  linyuiformis,  A. 
triangularis.  Solarium  Jlcxistr latum ,  now  31argaritella  Jlexistriata, 
Pholadomya  elegantula^  and  Ilostellaria  nebrascensis,  now  Anchura 
ntbrascensis;  and  from  Fox  Hills,  3Iytilus  galjyinanus  now  Volsella 
galpinana. 

In  1855,  M.  Tuomeyt  described,  from  Alabama  and  Mississippi, 
Nautilus  orbiculatus,  N.  spillmani,  JV.  angulatus,  Ammonites  angus- 
tus,  A.  binodosus,  A.  carinatus,  A.  magnijicus,  A.  ramosissimus^  Tur- 
riliten  alternatus^  Turritella  fastigiata  Phorus  umbilicatus,  now  li^n- 
doptygma  umbilicata,  Voluta  cancellata,  V.  fiisiformis,  V.  Jugosa, 
V.  spillmani,  Fusus  eufalensis,  F,  turriculas,  Pyrula  richardsoni, 
now  Pyropsis  richardsoni^  P.  trochiformis,  now  Pyropsis  trochiformis, 
Cerithium  nodosum,  Teredo  calamus,  Panopcea  cretacea,  Pholadomya 
tenua,  Cardium  hemicyclus,  Cuculluia  untjula,  Tnoceramtcs  biformis, 
I.  injlatus,  I,  proximus,  I.  salebrosus,  I.  triangularis,  Eadiolites  or- 
mondi,  JR.  aimesi,  E.  undulatiis,  Ichthiosarcolites  cornutus,  I.  lorica- 
tus,  I.  quadrangular  is. 

T.  A,  Conrad;];  described,  from  Dallas  county.  Miss.,  Baculites  an- 
milatus,  Hamites  larvatus,  II.  rotundatus;  from  Arkansas,  Ancyloceras  ' 
apprqximans,  and  Cardium.  arkansasense,  now  Protocardia  arkansas- 
ensis;  from  Alabama,  Caprina  quadra ta.  and  from  Texas,  Rostellites 
texanus,  Turritella  irrorata,  Caprina  occidentalism  C.  j)lanata,  ISIeithea 
occidentalis,  Mactra  texana,  Exogyra  Jimbriata,  and  E.  fragosa. 

Dr.  Joseph  Leidy§  described,  from  the  greensand  near  Pemberton, 
New  Jersey,  Pristis  curvidens. 


*  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  7. 
t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  7. 
X  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  7. 
§  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci-,  vol.  7. 


Menozolc  and  Ccunozoic  Geology  and  Palaiontology. 


57 


Dr.  James  Schiel*  found  the  Cietaeeoiis  rocks  west  of  Fort  Atkin- 
son, and  described  I noceramus  jiseudo-mytilo/des.  W.  P.  Illake, 
from  the  fossils  collected  by  Cupt.  John  Pope,  identified  these  rocks 
on  the  banks  of  the  Red  river,  near  Preston;  Big  Springs  of  tlie  Col- 
orado; Elm  Fork  of  the  Trinity  river;  and  a  point  20  miles  east  of  the 
Sand  Hills,  on  the  Llano  Estacado. 

In  1850,  William  P.  Blakef  announced  generally  the  Cretaceous 
age  of  the  extensive  table  lands  on  the  35th  Parallel  from  the  101st 
to  the  llOtli  Meridian,  known  as  the  Llano  Estacado.  Though  Wis- 
lizenus  as  earl}-^  as  1848  had  described  it  in  the  blufl's  of  Gallinas 
Creek,  and  Dr.  Schiel,  Dr.  Randall  and  Lieutenant  Simpson  as  well 
as  Jules  Marcou  had  testified  to  its  existence  in  various  places  in  the 
exposed  bluffs  found  upon  these  plains.  The  strata  are  nearly  hori- 
zontal, and  principally  white  or  grey  and  highly  calcareous,  but  some- 
times intercalated  with  grey  or  blue  marl  or  clay.  Prof.  James  Hall 
described,  from  False  Washita  and  other  localities  in  the  west, 
Gryphcea  jiitchet'i,  var.  navia. 

Meek  &  HaydenJ  described,  from  near  Fort  Union,  Nebraska  (later 
called  Fort  Union  Group),  Cyclas  fonnosa,  now  Sphoiriumfonnosum, 
C.  subelUpticus,  now  S.  subellipticHm,  Bulimus  ieres^  now  Columna 
teres,  B.  vermiculus,  now  0.  vermicula,  Pvpa  hellcoides,  Limnca  ten- 
uicosta,  which  is  made  the  type  of  the  genus  Pleurolimnea,  Fhysa 
longiusGula,  now  Bulimus  longiiisculus,  P.  rhoniboidea,  now  B.  rhom- 
boideiis,  P.  nebrascensis,  Velletki  minuta,  now  Acroloxus  mmutus, 
Paludina  leal,  now  Viviparus  leai,  P.  retusa,  now  V.  retusus,  P. 
leidyi,  now  V.  Icidyi,  P.  trochtformis,  now  V.  trochiformis,  Valvata 
parvula,  Melania  minutula,  now  Micropyrgus  mi  nut  id  us,  31.  multis- 
triata,  now  Campeloma  multistriatum,  M.  nebrascensis,  now  Goniobasis 
nebrascensis;  from  Moroau  river,  Cyrena  moreauensis,  now  Corbicula 
moreauensis,  Cyrena  intermedia,  now  Corbicula  nebrascensis;  from  the 
Bad  Lands  of  the  Judith  river,  Cyrena  occidentalis,  now  Corbicula 
occidentalis,  Corbula  subtrigonalis,  C.  perundata,  C.  mactriformis 
Unio  priscus,  Physa  subelongata,  now  Bidimus  subelongatus,  Planor- 
bis  subumbilicatus,  Paludina  vetuta,  now  Camjjeloma  vetulum,  P.  con- 
radi,  now  Viviparus  conradi,  Melania  convexa,  now  Goniobasis  con- 
vexa;  from  Foit  Clark,  Bulimus  limna'formis,  now  Thaumastus  limnoi- 
formis,  Paludina  mtdtilineata,  now  Campeloma  midtilineatum,  P. 
pecidiaris,  now  Viviparus  peculiaris;  from  Little  Horn  river,  Planor- 


;4-f 


■I 


*  Expl.  k  Sur.  R.  R.  Miss.  River  to  Pacific  Ocean,  vol.  2. 

t  F.-'cifiorl.  R.  Sur.  vol  ,  3. 

X  Proc.  Aca<l.  Nat.  Sci,,  vol.  8. 


e  4. 


,i 


m  1 


68 


Cretaceous. 


% 


I  \ 


1: 


bis  convolvtvs;  from  the  Yellow  Stone,  Melnnin  anfhonyi,  now  Tlydro' 
hia  anthotiyi;  jind  IVom  near  the  iiead  waters  of  the  Little  IMissouri, 
Cerilhiuw  nchrnscoise,  now  CerithUlen  nebrn, seen  sin. 

From  (the  Fort  Pierre  Group)*  No.  4,  of  the  Cretaceous  in  Nebraska, 
Actoion  snhellfpticns,  Turbo  nehrascoisis,  now  Marijitrita  nebrnsxerisis, 
ItostcUuria  bidiujulata^  now  Aporrhois  bifitif/itlafa,  IlclvJonsexsnlcn- 
tus,  now  Anisomyon  sexsulcatHm.  11.  patelUformis,  now  A.  patelU' 
forme,  II.  alveolus,  now  A.  alveolus,  II,  subovatus,  now  A.  subovatum^ 
Bulla  occideutalis,  now  Ilaminea  occhlentalis,  2'urritella  convexa, 
Ammonites  halli,  now  Phylloceras  halli,  Ancylocerasnebrascense,  now 
Ileteroceras  vebrascense,  A.  cheyenense,  now  II.  cheyenense,  Avicula 
fibrosa,  now  Pseudoptera  fibrosa;  h'oxn  ncwv  i\\Q  mo\.\W\  of  IMilk  river, 
Bulla  stibcylindrica,  now  Ilaminea  subcylindrica,  Venus  circularis, 
now  Thetis  circularis,  Cytherea  pellucida,  now  Cullista  pellucida; 
Cuculla'a  exiyua,  now  Triyonarca  exiyua,  Gervil/ia  subtortuosa,  Ino- 
ceramus  incurviis,  and  Ostrea  patina;  from  the  Great  Bend  of  the  Mis- 
souri, Kucula  obsoletastriata. 

From  (the  Fox  Hills  Group)f  No.  5,  of  the  Cretaceous  in  Nebraska, 
Scalaria  cerithiformis,  now  Chemnitzia  cerithiformis,  Natica  am- 
higua,  now  Vanikoro  ambiyua,  Natica  occidentalis,  now  Lunatia  occi- 
dentalis,  Turbo  tenuilineatus,  now  Spironema  tenuilineafum,  Fusus 
dakotensis,  F.  galpinanus,  now  Fasciolaria  yalpinana^  F.  contortiis, 
F.  flexuocostatus,  now  Fasciolaria  fiexuocostata^  F.  newberryi,  now 
Pyrifusus  newberryi,  F.  culberfsoni,  now  Fasciolaria  ciilbertsoni,  Py- 
rxda  bairdi,  now  Pyropsis  bairdi,  Fasciolaria  cretacea,  F.  buccinoides, 
Buccinum  nebrascensis,  now  Pseudo-buccinum  nebrascense,  Bulla  vol- 
varia,  now  Cylichna  volvaria,  B.  minor,  now  Ilaminea  minor,  Turri- 
telhi  moreaucnsis,  now  Cerithiopsis  moreauensis,  Belemnitella  bulbosa. 

From  the  mouth  of  Judith  river,  on  Cherry  creek,  and  on  Morcau 
river,  Pholadomya  undata,  now  Vymella  undata,  Goniomya  americana, 
Solen  subpUcatus,  now  Solenomya  subplicata,  Tellina  gracilis,  now 
Thracia  gracilis,  Tellina  C'heyennensis,  T.  scitula,  T.  subelliptica,  now 
Corbicula  subelliptica,  T,  prouti,  now  Thracia  prouti,  Cytherea  de- 
weyi,  now  CalUsta  deweyi,  Cytherea  nebrascensis,  now  Callista  nebras- 
censis, Corbula  moreauensis.,  now  Keaera  moreauensis,  C.  ventricosa, 
now  N".  ventricosa,  C.  greyaria,  now  Corbulamella  gregaria,  Astarfe 
gregaria,  now  Eryphyla  gregaria,  Nucula  scitula,  now  Yoldia  scitula, 
IT.  evansi,  now  Y.  evansi,  iV".  a'.quilateialis,  now  Ifuculana  mquilater- 


*  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  8. 
t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  8. 


H-T .  'i 


Mesozoic  and  Coitiozoic  Geology  and  Palaontology. 


69 


alis,  iV.  subjilana,  N.  cnncdlntd,  N.  plain'itmrginnta,  Pcctnncnlina 
parvula,  now  Lhnopnitt  parruta,  (Jitcnlld'ct  cordatn,  now  Idonearea 
tordata,  C.  shiauardi,  now  l.  shinnardi,  jVi/filitu  ((tfenuatus,  now  I'ol- 
selln  atfcnuata,  I))ocef(inins  perfcniiis,  Pectcn  nebranrensin,  Ndtica 
siibcrdssft,  now  Lunatid  anhcrdsnn,  Nntiai  tiiomegaiui,  now  Vanih'or- 
opsis  fitomeycDid,  Panopma  occidentjiliti.  wow  Glijchncn's  occidenfulis, 
Mnctra  formosa,  31.  warrenana,  31.  Mfa,  Tellinu  subfortuosn,  now 
Thracia  .fubtortno.sa,  Cytftereii  owenana.^  now  (JaUista  owettana, 
Uellmigia  aniericrina^now  Tancredia  americrina,  C'arditnn  spectu.sum, 
iind  3Iytilns  nubarcurif.us. 

Professor  L.  Hari)er*  described,  from  the  bed  of  the  Tuscaloosa,  or 
Black  Warrior  river,  near  Erie,  Greene  county,  Alabama,  about  twelve 
miles  above  the  confluence  of  the  Tombigbeeand  Black  Warrior  rivers, 
Ceratif.es  americanus. 

Dr.  Joseph  Loidjf  described,  from  the  greensand  of  Burlington 
county,  New  Jersey,  Chelonki  ornata,  now  Peritrcsius  ornatun 
Pohjgonodon  cetits,  Ischyrhiza  mira,  ICdaphodon  min\ftcus,  now 
Ischyodus  mirijicu.s ;  from  Neuse  river.  North  Carolina,  Tschyrhiza 
antiqua  ;  and  from  the  Upper  Missouri,  ('ladocycus  occidentalis  and 
Enchodiis  shumardi.  And  from  the  Fort  Union  Group,  nt  Long  Lake, 
Nebraska,  Emys  ob.scnrus,  now  Compsemys  obscurus,  <J o inpsemys  v ictiifi, 
and  3/ylognathiis  prtucHs ;  from  the  lowest  lignitic  of  Grand  river, 
Nebraska,  Thespesins  occidentalis.,  and  from  the  Bad  Lands  of  Judith 
River,  Paloiosci acus  costatiis^  Trachodon  mirabilis,  Troodonfoi'mosits, 
Tvionyx  foventus,  Deinodon  horridus,  now  Amblysodon  horridus, 
Crvcodilus  hiniif/is,  now  Bottosaurus  humilis,  Lepidotus  haydert,i^  L. 
occidentalis,  and  Ischyrotherimn  antiquum,  now  Ischyrosaurus 
antiquus. 

In  1857,  Arthur  Schott];  described  the  Cretaceous  basin  of  the  Rio 
Bravo.  The  main  portion,  from  Las  Moras  to  the  vicinity  of  Re^Miosa, 
forms  a  belt  of  380  to  100  miles  in  width.  Tlie  upper  part  of  this  belt 
commences  in  the  vicinity' of  Las  Moras,  and  terminates  some  few  miles 
above  Laredo,  a  distance  of  about  200  miles,  whilst  the  lower  part  be- 
gins where  the  former  ends,  and  reaches  as  far  as  the  vicinity  of  Rey- 
nosa,  showing  a  width  of  about  340  miles.  Both  of  these  parts  are 
distinct]}'  characterized  by  strata  of  greensand  (chloritic  chalk),  which 
change,  according  to  the  amount  of  oxide  of  iron  they  contain,    into 


.Ml 


"I 


f    -H 


■■'  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sei.,  vol.  8. 
t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.8. 
t  U.  S.  &  Mex    Bound.  Sur.,  vol.  1. 


fiO 


('refaceomt. 


\,:l^ 


varioiiHly  tinted  H.indstono  hIiohIs.  The  solidity  of  the  strata  varies 
very  much.  Tliey  are  sonu'tiines  formed  into  very  solid  roei<s,  well 
suited  for  meehanieal  or  arehiteetiiral  operations;  again,  they  consist 
of  loose  and  coarsely  grained  sandstone  slute,  which  rapidly  crumbles 
on  exposure  to  the  air.  Tiie  general  characteristic  of  this  belt  and  Its 
subdivisions  is  the  strict  horizontality  of  its  strata.  It  is  only  here 
and  there  that  some  slight  locil  disturbance  has  taken  place,  as  for 
instance,  near  Laredo,  and  again,  souio  40  or  50  miles  above,  where  a 
dip  of  about  8°  W.,  S.  E.  and  E.  is  exposed. 

From  Las  Moras  to  the  vicinity  of  Arroyo  Sombrerctillo,  which  is 
about  10  miles  above  Laredo,  lignite  coal  occurs  quite  frefpiently. 
On  both  sides  of  the  mouth  of  Elm  creek,  near  Eagle  pass,  particularly 
on  the  north  bank  of  this  water  course,  la^'crs  are  exposed  from  3  to  4 
feet  thick.  On  the  slope  of  Lizard  Hills,  below  the  deserted  llancho 
Palafox,  coal  occurs  from  4  to  5  feet  thick. 

Septariiu  abound  in  the  lower  belt,  especially  below  the  mouth  of 
Arroyo  Sombrerctillo;  on  the  oyster-terraces,  some  40  miles  below 
Laredo,  and  near  the  Rancho  San  Ignacio;  on  the  slope  of  Red  Ridge, 
of  Shady  Bluffs,  and  Septariaj  Hills.  Their  most  common  shape 
resembles  very  much  a  small  flat  loaf  of  bread.  Both  on  the  outside 
and  inside  large  irregularly'  shaped  divisions,  like  a  net  work  of  veins 
occur,  which  are  composed  of  crystals  of  gypsum,  a  mineral  very 
abundant  in  these  rocks. 

C.  C.  Pavry  found  the,  Trftaceous  in  the  basin  of  the  Rio  Grande,  where 
the  Comanche  trail  crosses  from  Upper  T>'^:as  into  Mexico,  near  the 
Mexican  =;ettlemcnt  of  San  Cuvlooi.  The  voek  exposure  exhibits  a 
^  ory  variable  dip,  i.ostly  inclined  toward  the  west,  occasionally  at  a 
very  sharp  angle.  I*;  rises  nt  various  points  in  the  adjoining  table- 
land, forming  ochreuus  coloiiid  rocky  bluffs,  where  at  several  points 
the  gravelly  table-land  is  seen  to  rest  unconformabl}'  on  the  sharply- 
tilted  strata.  Further  down  the  river,  in  an  eastern  direction,  the 
Cretaceous  assumes  a  nearly  horizontal  position,  and  a  closer  texture. 
It  is  here  seen  overlaid  by  a  variable  sheet  of  dark-colored  lava  rock. 
This  sheet  of  igneous  rock  conforms  closely  to  all  the  inequalities  of 
the  underlying  limestone,  exhibiting,  in  tbo  walls  of  the  Canon  below, 
a  distinct  line  of  separation  traceable  for  a  longdistance.  The  wester- 
ly dip  of  the  Cretaceoi's  underneath  grad;'.'illy  tliii.s  out  this  upper 
igneous  capping,  which  finally  disappears,  and  solid  limestone  walls 
continue  along  the  lino  of  the  river. 

At  one  point  on  the  line  of  the  trail  loading  round  the  broken  ranges 
of  the  mountain  ledges,  directly  bordering  the  river,  to  reach  its  bed 


^;iiii:";!!' 


Mixozoic.  and  Civtnizuic   (icolnifi/  and   Ptthvontoloyy. 


(11 


some  ('i|;ht  iniUn  holow  tlio  C/oiuuiulic  Konl,  tlio  sides  of  a  th't'p  washed 
ravine  bring  to  view  tlie  wuceesslve  and  relative  tliieUnessoCtlie  rocks. 
We  here  SCO  the  upper  iiienihers  of  the  ('retaeeons  roiks  r<»rinin,t?  tlio 
tabled  siininiits  oC  the  adJoiniii<r  mountains,  and  marked  by  freipuMit 
(!retaecous  fossils,  n'stiu^  on  a  bed  of  ignecuis  trap-form  rock  50  to  80 
feet  thick,  this  again  overlaying  the  closer  layers  of  the  limestone  strata 
beh»w. 

The  giganti(!  canon  of  San  Carlos,  through  which  for  ten  miles  the 
Rio  Grande,  pursuing  a  nearly  duo  east  course,  makes  its  way,  pre- 
sents unbroken  walls  of  Cretaceous  limestone.  The  course  of  the 
river  cutting  the  strata  in  a  line  directly  oi)poscd  to  the  dip,  there  is  u 
constantly  increasing  elevati(»n  of  the  canon  walls.  These  walls  com- 
mence with  a  height  of  between  200  and  :»00  feet;  but  the  fall  of  the 
water,  combined  with  the  rise  of  the  strata,  develops,  in  the  course  of 
ten  miles,  a  clear  perpendicular  height  of  at  least  1,500  feet  above  the 
river  level. 

A  faint  conception  only  can  be  formed  from  these  facts  of  the  truly 
awful  character  of  this  chasm.  Its  course  can  be  marked  along  the 
mountain  slope  in  a  regular  zigzag  line,  terminiiting  by  an  opening 
cleft,  which  rises  higli  and  clear  above  the  surrounding  mountain 
ranges.  The  surface  of  the  ground  adjoining  the  river  bank  is  a 
slightly  broken  slope,  extending  to  the  east,  and  showing  a  continuous 
development  of  the  range  to  the  north  and  south.  The  general  surface 
presents  no  indication  of  a  river  course,  and  you  are  not  aware  of  its 
presence  till  you  stand  suddenly  on  its  abrupt  brink;  even  here  the 
running  water  is  not  always  visible,  unless  advantage  be  taken  of  the 
projecting  points,  forming  angles,  along  the  general  course  of  the 
river.  From  this  dizzy  height  the  stream  below  looks  like  a  mere 
thread,  passing  in  whirling  eddies,  or  foaming  over  broken  rapids;  a 
stone  hurled  from  above  into  this  chasm  passes  completely  out  of 
sight  behind  the  over-hanging  ledges,  and  one  can  often  count  thirty 
before  the  last  deadened  splash  announces  that  it  has  reached  the 
river  bed.  From  the  point  formed  by  its  last  projecting  ledges  the 
view  is  grand  beyond  all  conception.  You  can  here  trace  backward 
the  line  of  the  immense  chasm,  which  marks  the  course  of  the  river, 
till  it  emerges  from  its  stupendous  outlet. 

The  mountain  range  forming  the  San  Vincente  canon,  lower  down 
the  Rio  Grande,  is  exclusively  Cretaceous.  The  eastern  slope  of  the 
Sierra  Carmel  shows  the  Cretaceous  limestone  inclining  eastward  at 
an  angle  of  about  20°;  and  the  Cretaceous  continues  to  be  exposed  al- 
most uninterruptedly  to  the  mouth  of  the  Pecos  river.     From  here  to 


I  • 


M".,: 


62 


CretaceoPK. 


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Eagle  Pass  is  an  open  country,  occupied  by  low  swells  of  Cretaceous 
limestone,  thus  merging  into  that  character  of  country  pertaining  to 
the  region  of  central  Texas. 

Prof.  James  Hall,  to  whom  the  minerals  and  fossils  collected  by  the 
^  tundary  Commission  were  referred  for  geological  examination,  com- 
pared the  Cretaceous  of  Texas  and  New  Mexico  with  that  of  Nebraska 
anc(  the  eastern  states.  He  furnished  the  followin.y  section  of  the 
successive  beds  comprising  the  Cretaceous  formation  of  New  Jersey, 
which  had  been  communicated  to  him  b^  Prof.  Geo.  H.  Cook  for 
comparison,  to  wit: 

8,  Greensand,  Thiiid  ou  Uppeu  Bed.     [Probably  of  Eocene  Age.] 
This  bed  admits  of  a  triple  divi  'ion,  the  central  portion  is  nearly 
destitute  of  fossils,  while  those  of  the  upper  and  lower  divisions  are 
mostly  dissimilar. 
7.  Quautzose  Sand,  resembling  Beach  Sand. 
This  bed  is  (so  far  as  known),  quite  destitute  of  fossils. 
f      G.  Greensand,  Second  Bed. 

1  {a)  Yellow  limestone  of  Timber  Creek.  Characterized  by 
Eschara  digitcita,  Montivaltia  atlantica^  Nucleolltes  crucifer, 
Ananchyies  ductus,  A.  fimbria t as,  Morton. 

(6)  A  bed  of  nearly  unchanged  shells.     Among  the  character- 
istic fossils  of  this  bed  are  Gt'i/phcea  vomer,  O.  convexa,  and  Tere- 
hratula  harlani. 
(c)  Greensand,  etc. 

CucuLloia  vulgaris  is  the  most  characteristic  fossil  of  the  lower 
division. 

5.  QuARTzosE  Sand  highly  Ferruginous  throughout,  and 
Argillaceous  in  its  upper  parts. 

This  rock  is  sometimes  indurated  or  cemented  by  oxyd  of  iron. 
Exogyra  costata,  Ostrea  larva,  Belen^^-'^'tella  mucronata,  Pecten 
[Neithea)  quinqu'ecostfUus ;  and  m.' ny  other  fossils  mostly  in 
the  condition  of  cas  :s  of  the  interior,  or  impressions  of  the  exte- 
rior. 
4.  Greensand,  First  or  Lower  Bed. 

Several  subdivisions  may  be  recognized  depending  on  the  char- 
acter of  the  marl,  etc.  Exogyra  coi'tata,  Ostrea  larvc,  Belemni- 
tella  mucronata,  T'erehratuln  sayi,  (Gryphoia  cnnve^a  and  G. 
mutabilis),  Ostrea  vesicular  is. 

3.  Dark  Colored  Clay,  containing  Greensand  in  Irregular 
Stripes  and  Spots. 

Ammonites  delawarensis,  A.  placenta,  A.  conradi,  Baculites 
ovatus,  casts  of  Cardium. 


Masozoic  and  Cwnozoic  Geology  and  Palmontology. 


63 


2.  Dark  Colored  Clay.  [Position  of  beds  Nos.  2  and  3  of  the  Ne- 
braska section.] 

At  the  present  time  the  evidence  tends  to  show  that  No.  1  of  the 
Nebraska  section  is  represented  b}'  Nos.  1  and  2,  and  that  Nos.  2  and 
3  of  the  Nebraska  section  are  wanting-,  and  would  find  a  place  between 
Nos.  2  and  3  of  this  section  if  existing. 

This  bed  contains  large  quantities  of  fossil  wood  (no  animal  remains 
are  known  to  occur  in  it). 

1.  Fire  Clay  and  Potter's  Clay. 

This  bed  contains  fossil  wood,  and  numerous  impressions  of  leaves; 
but  no  animal  remains. 

In  making  the  comparison  of  the  strata  he  placed  a  large  part  of  the 
Cretaceous  fossils  of  tlie  boundary  survey  in  the  same  parallel  with  beds 
Nos.  2  and  3  of  the  Nebraska  section,  and  below  those  bods  in  New 
Jersey  and  Alabama,  which  contain  Baculites  ovatus,  Kautilus  dekayi 
and  Ammonites  placenta.  He  described  from  Leon  Springr.,  Pyrina 
parry  I. 

Prof.  T.  A.  Conrad  described,  from  between  El  Piiso  and  Fron- 
tera,  Turhinolia  texana,  Cuculla'a  terniiualfs,  Area  siihelonyata,  Car- 
dluni  mediale,  Gytherea  texana,  Ostrea  vellicata,  JSfodosaria  texana; 
from  Leion  Springs,  Trigonia  texana,  Protocardla  Jilosa,  Cardita  em- 
inula,  Lima  leonensis,  Cytherea  leonensis.  Ammonites  geniculatus,  A. 
leonensis,  Gapsa  texana,  Terebratala  leonensis,  Turritella  leonensis; 
from  Rio  San  Pedro,  Cardiam  congcstam,  Natica  collina,  iV.  texana, 
Rostellaria  collina,  Buccinopsis  parry i;  U'dvaDvy  creek,  Mexico,  Os- 
trea cortex^  O.  multilirata;  from  Turke\'  creek,  Leon  and  Eagle  Pass 
roads,  Pholadomya  texana;  from  Jacun,  three  miles  below  Laredo, 
Ostrea  robusta,  Ammonites  pleurisepta;  from  other  places,  Gorhida 
occidentalism  Inoceramus  texanns,  Astarte  texana,  Plicatiila  incongrua, 
Ostrea  bella,  0.  lugubris,  Tarritellp,  plan  Hater  is,  Kerinea  schotti,  and 
Gardita  subtetrica. 

Evans  and  Shumard*  describee^'  from  Nebraska,  Avicula  nebras- 
cana,  Limopsis  striato-punctata,  Cardittm  subquadratum,  and  G.  ra- 
rum,  now  Protocardia  siibquadrata^  and  P.  rara,  Area  sulcatina,  now 
Nemodon  sulcatinus,  Leda  fibrosa,  now  Ifeoira  fibrosa,  Mytilus  meeki, 
now  Volsella  meeki,  Ostrea  sublrigonalis^  Pleurotoma  minor,  Fusiis 
nebrascensis,  Turritella  multilineata,  Eostellaria  americana,  now  An- 
chura  americana,  and  Ammonites  galpini. 

Meek  and  Haydenf  described,  from  the  Great  Bend  of  the  Missouri, 


'W\ 


'•''  Trans.  St,  Louis  Acad.  Sci.,  vol.  1. 
t  Proo.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  9. 


64 


Cretaceous. 


and  other  places  in  Nebraska  (Fort  Pierre  Group),  Ptychoceras  mor- 
toni^  Fusus  subtiirrltas,  now  Pyrifams  subturritas,  t\  interfrxtus,  now 
P.  intcrtextus,  Xylophar/a  eleyantula,  now  Turnus  eleffctntulus,  X. 
stunpsont,  now  T.  stimpsorii;  from  (Fox  Hills  Group),  near  the  mouth 
of  Heart  river,  Fusus  vau(jhni\  and  from  other  parts  of  Nebraska, 
Fusus  (?)  sca)'bo>'ou(/Jil,  now  Fdsciolaria  scarborouyhl,  Pholadomya 
subuentricosa,  Cyprina  cordatn,  now  Sjjhcerlola  (?)  cordaUt,  C.  com- 
pressa,  C.  siiotumkla,  C.  ooata,  Pect.inculus  subimbricatus,  now 
Axinma  subi'mbricatu,  Ostrea  iranslucida,  Ilemiaster  huntphreysanus\ 
from  the  month  of  Judith  river,  T'itHna  obliqua,  Pianorbis  amplexus. 
Helix  occidentah's,  now  Hyalina  occidentalism  II.  vitrinoides,  now 
H.  vetusta,  .Melania  omitta,  now  Goniobasis  omitta,  31.  subtortu- 
osa,  now  G.  subtortuosa,  31.  subkevis,  now  G.  siibla;vis,  31.  invenusta, 
now  G.  invenusta,  Unio  danai,  IT.  deivei/aiuis,  IT.  subspatulatus^ 
Ostroia  glabra;  from  the  Fort  Union  Group,  Lignite  beds  at  Fort 
Berthold  on  the  Missouri  river,  Pianorbis  frar/ilis,  now  P.  j^lanocoii- 
vexus,  3Ielania  tenuicarinata,  now  Goniobasis  tenuicarinata,  31. 
warrenana,  now  Ilydrobia  tvurrenana;  from  the  Fort  Benton  Group, 
at  the  mouth  of  Vermilion  river,  Serpula  tenuicincta;  from  the  Da- 
kota Group,  near  the  mouth  of  Vermilion  river,  Solen  dakotensis,  now 
PhoreUa  dakotensis,  and    Cyprina  arenaria,  now  Cyrena  arenaria. 

The  roeks*  of  the  Lower  Cretaceous,  in  Mississippi,  consist  princi- 
pally of  stratified  sand,  mixed  with  a  large  proportion  of  silicate  of 
iron  or  glauconite,  which  imparts  to  it  a  greenish  color  of  different 
hues,  and  has  given  origin  to  the  very  appropriate  name  of  greensand. 
The  indurated  greensand  is  generally  full  of  fossils.  It  is  exposed  in 
the  western  part  of  Tishamingo,  eastern  part  of  Tippah,  northwestern 
part  of  Itawamba,  northeastern  part  of  Pontotoc,  and  northeastern  part 
of  Lowndes  county. 

The  Upper  Cretaceous  has  sometimes  been  called  the  rotten  lime- 
stone, and  occupies  a  larger  area  than  the  lower  division.  It  occupies 
part  of  Kemper,  Noxubee,  Lowndes,  Ocktibbeha,  Chickasaw,  Monroe, 
Pontotoc  and  Itawamba  counties.  This  division  is  also  highly  fossil- 
iferous  where  well  exposed.  The  estimated  thickness  of  the  whole  is 
placed  at  from  1,200  to  1,500  feet. 

DrLeidyf  described,  from  Columbus,  Miss.,  TIadrodus  priscus;  from 
Nebraska,  Phasganodus  dims,  and  from  the  greensand  of  New  Jersey, 
Pycnodus  robustus. 


*'  Geo.  of  Miss. 

t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  9. 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geology  and  Palasontoloffi/. 


65 


In  1858,  Dr.  Geo.  G.  Shurnnrd*  described  the  Cretaceous  rocks  near 
the  mouth  of  Delaware  Crock,  ou  the  Rio  Pecos,  in  New  Mexico,  where 
he  found  a  tiiickness  of  9G0  feet.  Tlie  first  IOC  foet  consists  usually  of 
a  hard  limestone,  of  a  light  cream  coIcm*  and  '  arth}'  texture,  and  con- 
tains numerous  spheroidal  cavities,  froni  a  fo  irth  to  a  half  an  inch  iu 
diametei',  which  are  sometimes  partiall3'  (ilhd  with  loose,  ferrui^inous 
earth.  In  other  places  it  is  softer  and  lighter  colored,  resembling  im- 
pure chalk.  Beneath  this  limestone,  deposits  of  gypsum,  clay  and 
sandstone  o(;cur.  In  some  places  the  strata  are  much  disturbed,  and 
are  found  dipping  in  opi)Osite  directions,  at  angles  of  40°  or  50°.  He 
also  referred  to  the  Cretaceousf  certain  stiata  in  the  bluffs  of  the  ^liss- 
issii)pi,  above  Commerce,  Missouri,  having  a  thickness  of  158  feet, 
but  no  fossils  were  obtained. 

The  Cretaceous  rocks;];  occupy  a  belt  across  the  State  of  Alabama, 
from  50  to  100  miles  in  width.  The  counties,  either  in  whole  or  in 
l)art,  exposing  these  rocks  on  the  surface,  aie  Barbour,  Russell,  Pike, 
Macon,  Montgomery,  Butler,  Lowndes,  Autauga,  Wilcox,  Dallas,  Perry, 
3Iarengo,  Greene,  Choctaw,  Sumpter  a:ul  Pickens. 

T.  A.  Coiirad§  described,  from  Tippah  county,  Mississippi,  Fhola- 
domya  tippana,  Periploma  appUcata,  SiUqiiaria  biplicata,  now  Lep- 
tosolen  hiplicatus,  Leyinnen  elltpticus,  L.  appressus,  Dosuita  densaia, 
Mereti'ix  tippana,  now  Aphrodina  tippana,  Papyridca  beUa,  Car- 
dlum  ripleijen.se,  C.  spilliaani,  C.  tippaaum,  Opis  bella,  0.  hicarinaia, 
Tellhia  riplei/ana,  JS^uctda  percrasna,  Cibota  liniea,  CucuUoia  capax, 
C.  tippana^  now  Idonearca  tippana,  Dreissena  tippana,  Pinna  laq- 
uata,  Gervlllia  ensiformis,  Lima  acutilineata,  Inoccraniiis  argeu- 
teus,  T.  costellatus,  Ostrca  confragosa,  O.  peculiaris^  O.  denticnlifera, 
Exogyra  interrupta^  Pidviniies  argentoa,  Anomia  sellmformis,  Strom- 
bus  densatus,  now  Pugncllus  densatus,  Aporrhais  decemlirata,  now  An- 
chura  decemlirata,  Ilarpago  tippanus,  now  Pterocerella  tippana, 
Bimella  <  rvilirata,  Conus  canalis,  Drillia  tippana,  D.  nocemcostata, 
Turris  ripleijana,  Fusus  novemliratus,  F.  bellaliratus;  Pyrifusus  sub- 
densatiis,  Ficus  octoliratus,  Rapa  siipraplicata,  Volutilithes  cretacea, 
now  Volatomorpha  cretacea,  Chemnitzia  distans^  C.  interrupta,  Tri- 
chotropis  cancellaria^  Turritella  altilis,  T.  tippana,  Lunatia  rcctila- 
brnm,  Solididus  linteus,  Bidliopsis  cretacea,  BacuUtes  spillniani,  B. 
tippaensis,  Scajihites  iris,  and  Cytherina  tippana. 

Meek  and  Hay  den  ||  described,  from  (now  the  Fox  Hills  Group)  Long 


'■'  Trans.  St.  Louis  Acad.  Soi.  vol.  1. 

t  Proc.  Am.  Ass.  Ad.  •''ci, 

(J  Jour,  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  2d  ser.  vol.  3. 


t  Goo.  of  Ala.,  1858. 
II  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 


i 


66 


Cretaceous. 


Lake,  Ncbi'aska,  Corbuht  inornata,  Pholcis  cuneata,  now  3Iartisia  cu- 
neata  and   Actwon  altcnuata. 

From  (now  the  Fort  Pierre  Group)  near  Fort  Clark,  Teredo  (jlohosa, 
Jlelicnceras  forf.um,  now  Ilebcrocerds  torf,um,  TiirrilUes  cochleaftts, 
now  Ileteroceras  cocldeatnvi^  11,  tcnvicostatum,  Tarrilites  ximbllicalus, 
now  U.  xnnbilicatam,  and  Aiicijloceras   uncnm. 

From  (now  the  Fort  Benton  Group)  Fort  Benton,  on  the  Upper  Mis- 
souri, Iitoceramus  icmboiinfns  now  Voloiceramns  umbonalas,  and  from 
th(!  Black  Hills,  Scophites  larvcvformis.     * 

Dr.  Leidy  described,  from  the  marl  of  Haddonfield,  Camden  county, 
Ncvv  Jorse}',  Jladrosavrus  fovUci. 

V.  B.  Meek*  described,  from  Vancouver's  Island,  Kucula  traskana, 
Area  a-qnila  feral  is,  A.  vancouvertnsis,  CariUam  scitulum,  Phola- 
domya  borealis,  P.  subelonr/ata,  Trir/onin  evansana,  lliracia  occiden- 
talis,  T.  siibtruncata,  Dentalium  nanaimoense,  and  Ammonites  ramosus. 

Dr.  B.  F,  Shuinardf  described,  from  the  same  island,  Inoceramus 
vancfHiverensis,  Pinna  calamitoides,  and  Pijrula  (jlabra. 

Prof.  E.  Emmons];  described,  from  the  Greensand  of  North  Carolina, 
Sphcnodus  rectidens,  and  Bclemnitella  compressa. 

Prof.  Oswald  Heer,§  of  Zuiich,  Switzerland,  described,  from  Ne- 
braska, Liriodendi  on  meeici,  Sapotacitcs  haydeni,  Le[/uminosites  mar- 
conanits,  i?ow  Biimelia  marcouana,  Popnlus  cyclophylla,  now  Cissites 
ci/clopfiyUa,  Phyllites  obcordatiis,  and  P.  obfusilobatus. 

In  18r)9,  Prof.  Henry  Y.  IIind|  found  the  Cretaceous  rocks  in  posi- 
tion on  the  Little  Souiis  River,  in  longitude  100°  30'  W.,  and  on  the 
South  Branch  of  the  Saskatchewan,  in  longitude  106°  35'  W.,  and  be- 
tween these  widel}'  separated  points  in  many  places  on  the  Assinibolne, 
the  Qu'Appelle,  and  their  afthients.  Fifteen  miles  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Little  Souris,  the  rocks  consist  of  a  very  fissile,  dark  blue  argilla- 
ceous shale,  holding  numerous  concretions,  containing  a  large  per  cent, 
age  of  iron.  This  exposure  is  70  feet  thick,  and  the  layers  are  per- 
fectly horizontal.  The  whole  is  supposed  to  be  of  the  age.of  the  Fort 
Pierre  Group.  The  Cretaceous  of  this  latitude  appears  to  repose 
directl}'  n[)on  the  Devonian,  as  the  former  is  found  undisturbed  and 
nearly  horizontal  at  altitudes  from  400  to  600  feet  above  exposures  of 
Devonian  age,  recognized  in  situ  30  miles  to  the  east. 

Prof  F.  B.  Mcek^  described,  from  the  Little  Souris  River,  Anomia 
flemingi,  Inocercunits  canadensis,  Leda  hindi,  now  Nucalana  hindi,  and 


'■'  Trnrs.  Alb.  Inst.,  vol.  4.  t  Trans.  8t   Louis  Aoad   Sci.,  vol.  1. 

X  Geo.  Sur.  N.  Carolina.  I  Proc.  Acad.  Nat. Sci. 

II  Assiniboine  and  vSuskatchcwnn  E.xpl.  Expcd. 

H  Rep.  on  Assiniboine  and  Sasliatehewan  E.\pl.  Expcd. 


Mesozolc  and  Camozolc  Geology  and  Palaeontology. 


67 


from  the  valley  of  Mackenzie's  li\\{i\\  Ammonites,  barnstoni;  and  A, 
hillings  i. 

Prof.  Leo.  Lesquereux*  described,  from  Vancouver's  Island,  and  Bell- 
Ingham  Bay,  Populus  rhomhoidea,  Salix  islnndicus.  Quercus  benzoin, 
Q.  multinervis,  Q.  evansi,  Q.  gandini,  Q.  ptatinervis,  Planera  diibiai 
Oinnamomum  heo'i,  now  Daphnogene  heeri,  Persoonia  oviformis,  and 
Diospyros  lancifolia. 

In  I860,  Dr.  B.  F.  Sluimardt  subdivided  the  Cretaceous  strata  of 
Texas  in  descending  order,  as  follows:  1.  Caprina  limestone,  having  a 
thickness  of  GO  feet,  and  consisting  of  a  yellowish  white  limes'one, 
usually  massive,  sometimes  of  a  finely  granular  structure,  and  some- 
times made  up  of  rather  coarse,  subcrystalline  grains,  cemented  with  a 
chalky  paste.  It  has  an  extended  geographical  range.  2d.  The  Co- 
manche Peak  Group,  having  a  thickness  of  300  to  400  feet,  and  made 
up  of  soft,  yellowish  and  whitish  chalk}-  limestone,  and  buff  and  cream- 
colored  limestones  of  greater  or  less  compactness,  being  highly  fossilif- 
erous,  and  having  a  great  geographical  extension.  3.  The  Austin 
limestone  and  fish  bed,  having  a  thickness  fiom  100  to  120  feet.  The 
Austin  limestone  consists  of  cream-colored  and  bluish  earthy  limestones, 
and  the  fish  beds  of  shaly  layers  of  dark-blulsh-gray  calcareous  sand 
stone.  This  is  supposed  to  represent  Nos.  4  and  5  of  the  Nebraska 
section,  by  Meek  &  Haydcn.  4.  Exogyra  arietina  marl,  having  a  thick- 
ness of  60  feet,  and  consisting  of  an  indurated  blue  and  yellow  marl 
with  occasional  bands  of  gray  limestone,  and  thin  stams  of  selenite  in- 
terstratified.  5.  Washita  limestone,  having  a  thickness  from  100  to 
120  (eet,  a  wide  geographical  range,  and  consisting  of  white,  yellow, 
gray  and  blue  limestones,  some  of  which  are  moderately  hard,  and 
others  disintegrate  rapidly.  This  is  supposed  to  be  parallel  with  the 
lower  part  of  No.  3  of  the  Nebraska  section,  by  Meek  and  Hay  den. 
6.  Blue  marl,  having  a  thickness  of  50  feet,  and  consisting  of  an  in- 
durated arenaceous  marl,  of  a  schistose  structure,  with  small  nodules 
of  iron  pyrites  and  irregular  masses  of  lignite  disseminated  through 
it.  It  is  not  observed  south  of  Gra3'son  county,  and  is  supposed  to 
correspond  with  No  2  of  the  Nebraska  section.  7.  Caprotina  lime- 
stone, having  a  thickness  of  55  feet,  and  forming  the  basis  of  what  is 
called  the  Upper  Cretaceous  Group.  It  is  composed  of  light  gray  and 
yellowish  gray  earthy  limestone,  with  intercalated  bands  of  yellow 
marl  and  sometimes  flint,  and  is  exposed  at  the  base  of  the  hills  near 
Comanche  Peak,  and  underlying  the  Washita  limestone  near  the  Colo- 


*  Amor.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  2d  Scries,  vol  27. 
t  Trans.  St.  Louis  Acad.  Sci.,  vol.  1. 


es 


CretaceouN, 


I  '  i 


rado,  Tit  the  foot  of  Mt.  Bonnell.  8.  The  Arenaceous  Group  and  fish 
bed,  having  a  thickness  of  80  feet,  and  consisting  of  light  yellow  and 
blue  sandstone,  and  beds  of  sandy  cla}',  with  crystals  of  selenite  and 
some  lignite.  This  is  supposed  to  be  the  same  as  B,  C  and  D  of  the 
Pjramid  Mount  Section  of  Prof.  Marcou,  and  by  him  referred  to  the 
Jurassic  period,  and  to  be  equivalent  to  No.  1  of  the  Nebraska  Sec- 
tion, y.  Marly  Clay  or  Red  River  Group,  having  a  thickness  of  160 
feet,  and  supposed  to  represent  the  lower  part  of  the  Pyramid  Mt.  Sec- 
tion, which  Prof.  Marcou  referred  to  the  Trias. 

He  described  Nautilus  texanus,  Ammonites  inaiquiplicatus,  A. 
swallovi,  A.  meekanus.  A.  graysonensis,  A.  brazoensis,  Scaphites  ver- 
miculus,  Ancyloceras  amiulatiim^  Baculites  gracilis,  Cerithium  bos- 
quense,  Phasianella  perovata.  Avellana  texana,  Natica  acutispira, 
Neritopsis  biangulatus,  Venus  sublamellosus,  Cardium  choctawense, 
now  Protocardia  choctaivensis,  C  coloradoense,  C.  brazoense,  now 
Protocardia  brazoensis,  Cytherea  lamarensis,  now  Dione  lamarensis, 
Tapes  hilgardi,  Area  proutana^  Liicina  sublenticular  is,  Nucula  hay- 
deni,  I^.  serrata,  Corbula  graysonensis,  C.  tuomeyi,  Pachymya  austin- 
ensis,  Panopoea  neivberryi^  P.  subparallela,  Jnoceramus  capulus,  Ger- 
villia  gregaria^  Janira  lorighti,  Ostrea  belliplicata,  O.  quadriplicata, 
Cidaris  hemigranosus. 

Wm.  M.  Gabb*  described,  from  Prairie  Bluff,  Alabama,  Chemnit- 
zia  meekana,  Straparollus  subplanus,  Sconsia  alabamensis,  Cancellaria 
alabam.ensis,  now  Turbinopsis  alabamensis,  and  Bulla  macrostoma; 
from  the  marl  of  New  Jersey,  Actmonia  naticoides,  now  CinuUa  nati- 
coides,  Phasianella  punctata,  Volutilithes  biplicata,  now  Bostellites 
biplicatus,  V.  bella,  noiv  P.  bellus,  V.  nasiita,  now  P.  nasutus,  V.  con- 
radi,  now  B.  conradi,  Fusus  retifer.  Papa  elevata,  Morea  naticella, 
Bulla  recta,  Mysia  gibbosa,  Dione  delawarensis,  Crassatella  delawar- 
ensis,  V.  monmouthensis,  Cardita  subquadrata,  Leda  pinniformis^ 
now  Nucidana  pinnijormis,  L.  protexta,  now  N.  protexta,  Cultellus 
cretaceuSj  Pecten  burlingtonensis ;  wfrom  Tennessee,  Volutilithes 
saffordi,  and  Cardium  abruptum;  from  New  Jersey,  Actceonina  bipli- 
cata, now  Solidula  biplicata,  Solarium  nbyssinus^  now  Margaritella, 
abyssinus,  Volutilithzs  abbotti,  Turbinella  subconica,  T.  parva,  Can- 
cellaria septemlirata,  Purpuroidea  dubia,  Fusus  trivolvis,  Papa 
pyruloidea^  Pleurotoma  mullicaersis,  Area  quindecemradiata,  Cibota 
multiradiata,  and  Leda  angulata,  now  Nucularia  angulata,  Desma- 
tocium  trilobatum,  and  from  Eufala,  Alabama,  Cassidulus  micro- 
coccus. 


'■•'  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  2d.  Ser.,  vol.  4. 


Mesozoic  and  Cmnozoic  Geology  and  Pahnontoloyy. 


by 


Wm.  M.  Gabb*  des(M'ibetl,  from  Eufaulti,  Alabama,  Fasus  holmesnn- 
us,  C'ancelldi'ia  euj'aulensis,   Dentalium  ripleyanum,    Venus  meekana 
Astarte  octolirata,  Triyonia  eujaul'^nsis,  Axincen  rotundnta,  Nucula 
distortft,  iV".  etffaulens/s,  Area  enfanlensi's,  now  ISfemodon  cufaulensis, 
Hamidns  major;  from  Ilurdoinan  count}',    Tennessee,  Neptnnea  im- 
pressa,  Fasclolaria  soffordl,   Turritella  hardemanensis,   T.  pumila,  T. 
sajfordi,  T.  tennesseensis,  Venus  ripleyana,   Corbula  subconipressa,  C. 
crassipUcata,  Modiola  sajfordi,  now  Volsella  saJford>\  Area  saffordf, 
Ostrea  erenuUmar(jinata;  from  New  Jersey,  Rostellaria  rostrnta,  now 
Anchiira  rostrata,  Cypro'.a  niortoni,  Lunatia  ludlL   Pholas  cretacea, 
now   Martesia  cretacea^   Teredo  irregularis,  now  Polarlhrus  irreyu- 
laris^  Gastrochania  umerieana,  now  Polarlhrus  americanus,  Isooardia 
conradi,  now  Opis  conradi,  3Iodiola  ovata,  now  Volsella  ovata^  Leda 
slackiana,  now  N^icidana  slackana,  Serpida  habroyramma,  Denfalina 
ptdchra,  now   Phonemus  pulcher;  from  the  Indian  Territor}',  near  the 
Choctaw  Mission,  Chemnitzia  occidentalis;  and  from  Oregon,  Discoidea 
oceidenlalis;  Gabb  and  Horn  described,  from  Hardeman  county,  Ten- 
nessee, Platytroehus  speciosus;  from  Prairie  Bhitf,  Alabama,  Flabellum 
striatum;  from  New  Jersey,  Trochosmilia  conoidea,  Acerviclausa  ver- 
micularis,  Heterocrisina  abbotti,  now   Bicrlsina  abbottl.  Hippothoa 
irreyxdaris,\  Ccllepora  carinata,  now  Iteptoporina  carinata,  C.  typica, 
now  Escharifora  typica,  Reticulipora  sayena,  and  3Iulticrescis  par- 
vicella. 

T.  A.  ConradJ  described,  from  Barbour  county,  Alabama,  and  Tip- 
pah county,  Mississippi,  Pholadomya  anteradiata,  P.  papyria,  P. 
postsulcata,  Sanguinolaria  cretacensis,  Tellina  eufaidensis,  T.  lim- 
atula,  T.  eborea,  Dosina  depressa^  now  Cyprimeria  depressa,  D.  ob- 
liquata,  3Iysia  pur  His,  now  Tenea  par  His,  Cardium  linteum,  now 
Cymbophora  lintea^  Crassatella  lititea,  C.  pteropsis.  Linear ia  met- 
astriata,  KeVia  cretacea,  Sphcerella  concentrica,  Crenella  sericea, 
Cuculhea  maco.iensis,    now    Triyonarca   maconensis,   Nucula   cunei- 


'■'  Jour.  Aciid.  Nat.  Sci.,  2d  ser.  vol.  4 

t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sei. 

t  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  2d  ser.  vol.  4. 


'*;- 


I, 

It 


70 


Cretaceous. 


:  J    ' 


frons,  ^.  percBquali.  Leda  lonyffroDs,  now  Kuculana  loiujifrons, 
Venilln  trapezoidea,  now  Veniella  trnpezoideci,  Cardiinn  eiifanlense, 
Dione  eufaulensifi,  Astarte  crenalirata,  Corhula  eufaulensis,  Plica- 
tula  saffordi,  P.  tetrica,  Pecten  argiUenttLs,  P.  inis.sissipjiiensis,  P. 
simplicius,  now  Syncyclonema  s.'mplidum,  Ihirrilites  sjiiniferus.  An- 
chura  abrupta,  TurriteUa  trillra.  Daphnella  eufaulensis,  T),  liniea,  D. 
suhftlosa,  Dn'llia  dfntans,  Fusus  tippanus,  Strepsidura  ripleyana, 
Volutilithes  eufaulensis,  Actaion  modicellus,  Chemnitzia  corona,  C.  me 
lanopsis,  C.  spillmani,  C.  laqueata,  C.  triyemmata,  Pyrojisis  perlata, 
yeritella  densata,  Gyrodes  alveatus,  G.  crenatus,  Turhinopsis  hilyardi. 
Tuba  bella,  now  Spironema  bellum,  Morea  cancellaria,  Thylacus  ere- 
taceus,  Placunanomia  saffordi,  Cassldulus  abruptus^  and  C.  subquad- 
ratus. 

Prof.  E.  W.  Hilganl*  subdivided  the  Cret.iceous  rocks  of  Mississippi 
into  four  groups  as  follows  :  1.  The  lowest,  the  Eutaw  Group,  as  char- 
acterized by  Tuomey,  near  Eutaw,  Alabama.  2.  Tombigbee  Sand 
Group.     3.  Rotten  Limestone  Group.     4.  Ripley  Group  of  Conrad. 

The  Eutaw  Group  consists  of  bluish  black,  or  reddish,  laminated 
clays,  often  lignitic,  alternating  with,  and  usually  overlaid  bj-^  non-effer. 
vescent  sands,  mostly  poor  in  mica,  and  of  a  gray  or  yellow  tint.  It 
contains  beds  of  lignite,  and  rarely  other  fossils.  It  is  displayed  at 
a  few  places  in  Tishamingo,  Itawamba,  Monroe,  and  Lowndes 
counties. 

The  Tombigbee  Group  is  usually  a  fine-grained  micaceous  sand 
more  or  less  calcareous,  usually  of  a  greenish  tint,  but  not  unfrequently 
gray,  bluish,  black,  yellowish  and  sometimes  even  orange  red.  The 
greenish  tint  is  imparted  to  these  sands  not  by  greensaud  grains,  as  is 
the  case  in  the  marls  of  the  Riple}'-  Group,  but  is  caused  by  a  greenish 
incrustation,  covering  thinly  a  portion  of  the  quartz  grains,  but  the 
presence  of  glauconite  in  the  incrustation  has  not  been  detected. 
Cla3's  and  non-calcareous  sands  are  subordinate  to  the  greenish  sand. 
This  Group  forms  a  narrow  belt  on  the  western  exposure  of  the  Eutaw 
Group,  and  extending  from  Lowndes  county  through  Monroe,  Itawamba 
and  Tishamingo,  to  the  southern  border  of  Tennessee. 

The  Rotten  Limestone  Group  possesses  the  same  characteristics  as- 
cribed to  it  by  Tuomey  in  Alabama,  and  appears  as  a  soft,  chalky  rock, 
of  a  white  or  pale  bluish  tint,  with  very  little  sand ;  consisting  of  vari- 
able proportions  of  fat,  tenacious  cla^-,  and  white  carbonate  of  lime  in 
crystals  extremely  minute,  and  with  some  shells  of  infusoria.     It  is 


*  Geo.  of  Miss. 


Jfesozoic  (tnd  Cwnozoic  Geology  and  Pnlaionf.olof/y. 


71 


I 


\4 


generally  highly  fossUiferous,  and  irregular,  roiuulecl  nodules  of  iron 
pyrites  of  a  radiated  structure  called  "sulphur  balls"  are  common. 
It  is  of  great  thickness  on  its  southwestern  border  in  Chickasaw^ 
Octibbeha,  Noxubee  and  Kemper  counties,  where  borings  have  been 
made  in  it  from  700  to  1000  feet,  but  there  is  a  gradual  thinning  out 
northward,  througii  Pontotoc,  Itawamba,  Tii)pah  and  Tishamingo 
counties  to  the  line  of  Tennessee.  Tiie  surface  area  of  this  sub- 
division in  Mississippi  is  greater  than  that  of  the  other  three  com- 
bined. 

The  Ripley  Group  forms  the  border  of  the  western  exposure  of  the 
Cretaceous,  from  a  point  in  Chickasaw  through  the  central  part  of 
Pontotoc,  the  eastern  part  of  Tippah  and  western  part  of  Tishamingo 
to  the  south  line  of  Tennessee.  It  consists  of  hard  crystalline  lime- 
stone, more  or  less  sandy  and  glauconitic,  vvhicii  forms  the  highest 
strata;  and  bluish  micaceous  marls,  more  or  less  sandy,  and  often  in- 
terstratified  with  subordinate  ledges  of  sandy  limestone,  which  latter 
become  less  and  less  frequent  as  we  descend  in  the  series  toward  the 
strata  forming  a  transition  into  the  Rotten  limestone. 

Meek  and  Haydeu*  described,  from  (Fort  Benton  Group)  the  mouth 
of  Vermilion  river.  Ammonites  oermilionensis,  now  Jfortoniceras  ver- 
milionense  ;  from  near  the  Black  Hills,  Scaphites  warreni ;  from  Little 
Blue  river,  Inocernmus  aviculoides,  now  I.  problematicns,  var.  avica- 
lokles ;  from  (Fox  Hills  Group),  Moreau  river,  PhyUoteiithis  suhovn- 
tus,  DentaUitm  pauperculum^  now  Entalis  paupercula,  and  Cylichna 
soitula  ;  from  20  miles  below  the  mouth  of  Cannon  Ball  river,  Tellina 
formosa^  now  Linear  la  fo>'mosa ;  from  the  north  branch  of  Cheyenne 
river,  Cyprina  humilis,  now  Veniella  humills ;  and  from  Long  Lake^ 
Avicula  subgibbosa,  now  A.  Unguiformis,  var.  subgibbosa  ;  from  the 
mouth  of  Judith  river  (Judith  river  Group),  Helix  evansi,  now 
Hyidina  evansi;  from  the  mouth  of  Grand  river,  Sphan'iiim  planum, 
S.  recticardinale,  Cyrena  cytheriformis,  now  Corbicula  cytheriformis^ 
and  Inoceramus  subcompressus,  now  /.  cripsi.,  var,  subcompressus  ; 
from  (Fort  Pierre  Group)  the  head  of  the  south  branch  of  Cheyenne 
River,  Helicoceras  angulatum,  now  Heteroceras  angulatum,  Ammon 
ites placenta,  xav.intercalaris;  now  Placenticer as  placenta^  var.  inter- 
calaris,  from  the  Yellow  Stone  river,  Scaphites  nodosns^  var.  plenus, 
Aporrhais  parva,  now  Anchura  parva,  A.  siiblaevis,  and  3Iactra 
gracilis;  from  Fort  Clark,  Teredo  sell  if  or  mis ;  from  White  river, 
Inoceramus  vamixemi,   I.  balchi;  from  Bijou  Hill,  Anoniia  sublvigon- 


'^■i  ■ 


'■  Proe  Acad.  Nat.  Sci- 


I. 


79 


Cretaceous, 


i 


Hi 


alis,  nntl  from  tho  i^ront  bond  of  tlio  ^Missouri  river  bolow  Fort  Pierre, 
Osfrea  inorrmfa. 

From  (Niobr.'irn  Group)  noiir  the  mouth  of  tlie  Niohrai  i  river,  A)f 
omia  oldiqiut  ;  from  (r)!ik()t!i  flronp)  near  the  mouth  of  the  liii? 
Sio\ix  river,  Moctra  Sionxensi.s.  F.  H.  JNIeelv  cleserilM'd,  from  near 
Bear  river,  on  Sulpliur  Creek,  Anomia  coiicentrfca,  CorhuUt  voncentri- 
00,  C.  e»(/e/inruitn\  C.  pyrlformis^  and  Melanin  humerosa,  now  Pyriju- 
llfera  hnmerosd;  from  tlu;  North  IMatte,  TtuKicramua  simpsnni ;  from 
Ham's  Fork,  nortlieast  of  Fort  liriduer,  Mefampifs  prisciis,  now  lihi/- 
tophuru.s  pi'f.scus,  Mclania  n/'mpsonf..  now  Goniohnsh  nhnpsonl,  M, 
nrctff,  M.  nltidula,  now  Lininam  nitidnln,  L.  si,inilh^  L.  retusta, 
Planorhis  spectahfh's,  P.  iifahensis,  and  from  near  Fort  liridyer,  TTnio 
haydeni.  Some  of  the  latter  .s[)(H!ies  probal)ly  beioni;  to  tlio  Lower 
Eocene. 

In  18()1,  Moek  and  Tlayden,*  as  before  mentioned,  separated  the 
Cretaceous  rooks  of  tiic  Missouri  rejjfion  into  five  subdivisions,  in 
ascending  ovder,  as  follows  : 

1.  Dakota  Group,  consisting  of  yellowish,  reddish,  and  occasionally 
white  sandstone,  with,  at  places,  alternations  of  various  colored  clays 
and  beds  and  seams  of'  ipuro  lijrnite  ;  filso  siliclfled  wood,  and  great 
numbers  of  leav-  ■■*  of  iiie  higher  tyjies  of  dicotyledonous  trees,  with 
casts  of  P/irtre/Vr  dakofens/s,  AxinneaNioii.Gensi's^aui]  Cyprina  arenarea. 
Found  at  the  hills  back  ot  the  town  of  Dakota;  also  extensively  de- 
veloped in  tho  surrounding  country  in  Dakula  county,  below  the  mouth 
of  Big  Sioux  river,  thence  extending  southward  into  northeastern 
Kansas  and  bej'ond.     Fstiniated  thickness,  400  feet. 

2.  Fort  Benton  Group,  consisting  of  dark  gray,  laminated  I'lays, 
sometimes  alternating  near  the  u[)per  part  with  ^cams  .nnd  layers  of 
soft  gray  and  light  colored  limestone,  Tnoceramns  j»'ol)lematicii.s',  /. 
tennirosh'atus,  I.  latus,  I.fraf/ilis;  Osfrea  co/'ffesta,  Venilin  mortoni, 
Pholndomyn  pnpyrocea,  Ammonites  mullani,  A.  percarinctus,  A.res- 
pertinus,  Scaphites  warreni,  S.  hirnijonnis,  S.  ventricosns,  S.  vermi- 
formis,  Nantilus  elegans,  etc.  Extensively  developed  near  Fort  Ben- 
ton, on  the  Upper  INFissouri;  also  along  the  latter  from  ten  miles  above 
James  river  to  Big  Sioux  river,  and  along  the  eastern  slope  of  the 
Rock}'  Mountains  as  well  as  at  the  Black  Hills.  Estimated  thickness, 
800  feet. 

3.  Niobrara  Group,  consisting  of  lead-gray  calcii'eous  marl,  weather- 
ing to  a  yellowish  or  whitish  chalk}'  appearance  above,  containing 


'■'  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Soi. 


Meixozoio  tiiul  Coiiiozoio  Oeo-ogy  mid  J^nhtontology, 


73 


Inrgj;  scnU's  and  otlior  reinuiiis  ol'  llwhos,  and  nuniorons  spet-imtMis  of 
Ostn'd  C(>)i(iesfn,  iiiuichcd  to  iVaunnonts  o(  InovcrnmuH.  Passiny;  down 
into  light  yoliowisii  and  wliiliMli  liniCHtonc,  containinu  great  numbers 
of  [nocerumns  /u'olt/eniaficits,  I.  /)NCi(doi)ii/fJ/iji'fes,  I.  nu'culoidcs,  lisli 
^^calos,  t'U'.  Found  in  lI-j'  bluffs  along  tliu  MissoMri,  1)l'1o\v  the  (ircat 
Bend,  to  tiie  vicinity  of  I{ig  Sioux  Hiver  ,  also  below  theiL'  on  tin-  lops 
of  thu  hills.     Estimated  thiekiiess,  200  feet. 

4.  Fort  Pierre  (iroup,  eonsisting  of  dark  beds  of  vt  ry  Ihie  unctuous 
clay,  containing  much  carbonaceous  matter,  with  veins  and  seams  of 
gypsum,  masses  of  sulphuret  of  iron,  nnd  numerous  small  scales,  fishes 
local,  iilling  depressions  in  the  bed  l)elow.  Lower  fossjliferous  zone, 
containing  Ain)iio)iites  cnmple.i'iis,  JidCHliie.t  oi'atun,  li.  coiapressus, 
//(  licocci'dH  mortoni,  II.  turf  "in,  II.  uinhilirafum,  H.  cochlea  fn  in, 
Ptijchocera.'i  mai'toni,  Fiism  rinculum,  Anisomf/oii  horeclis,  Aniauf- 
opiiis  p(tlu(llni/onniti,  rnocerniniis  snbli.vcis,  I.  tcnniiincntus,  bones  of 
McKdsdurus  liiissonrienst's,  etc.  Middle  zone,  nearly  banvn  of  fossils. 
Upper  part  consisting  of  dark  gray  and  bluish  plastic  clays,  containing, 
uear  the  upper  |)arj,  ^dulilm  dekdiji.,  Aiiiiiwnitea  pldreiitd,  liaculiies 
ocdtus,  li.  coni/ires.stis,  Scd/ihite.s  nodo.sn  •■■,  Dentdliaiit  ;ii'dcile,  Crdssa 
felht,  eodiisi^  tiiexf/dut  iiebra.scens/.s,  Iituccrdiuns  sdi/eiLii's,  I.  ncbrds- 
ceiisis,  I.  canaxciai,  bones  of  Mosdsdiivax  iHiss'uia'ieji.sis,  etc.  Found 
on  Sage  creek,  Cheyenne  river,  White  river  aljove  the  Mauvaises 
Terres,  Fort  Pierre,  and  out  to  IJad  Lands,  down  the  Missouri  on  the 
high  country,  to  Great  Bend  and  near  Bijou  Hill  on  the  ^lissouri. 
Estimated  thickness,  700  feet. 

5.  Fox  Hills  Group,  consisting  of  gray,  ferruginous  and  yellowish 
f^Mudstone  and  arenaceous  cl;iys,  containin^  IJelenuiifelld  hutOoNC,  Xaii- 
tilus  dekdyi,  Aiiinioiiites  pldccntd,  A.  lobdtus,  Scdphitcs  coni'diU,  b. 
nicolletti,  BdC'dites  (irduditi,  litisi/con  bairdi,  B'miis  cidberfsoni,  F. 
newberryi,  Aporrhais  ninericatid,  P,seadobii cGinum  nebrascenne,  3Idc- 
tra  warrenana,  Gardiuin  .sabquadratum,  ana  a  great  number  of  other 
molluscous  fossils,  together  with  bones  of  3IoHasdunis  missoariensis. 
etc.  Found  at  Fox  Hills,  near  jMoreau  river,  near  Long  Lake,  above 
Fort  Pierre,  along  the  base  of  Big  Horn  AFoi  ,,  ;iins,  and  on  North  and 
South  Platte  rivers.     Estimated  thickness,  500  feet. 

Ii  Nebraska  the  sandstones  of  the  Dakota  Group  rest  directly  upon 
rocks  of  the  age  of  the  Upper  Coal  Pleasures,  or  of  Permian  Age. 

They  described  from  the  Fort  Pierre  and  Fox  Hills  Groups,  at  Deer 
Creek,  near  the  north  branch  of  the  Platte  river,  Leda  bisulcdtd,  now 
Niiculdiid  bisidcata,  GercilUd  redd,  (JreneUd  eleyantula.  Cardium 
pertenue,   now  Protocdrdia  pertenuis,   TelUna  nitkhda,  now  Jfdctra 


■if 


74 


CrefftreouK, 


nitidnia  ;  (Vom  the  mouth  of  the  Blij  Horn  river,  Linyuln  nitiiht,  and 
from  the  head  of  Gros-VentrcH  river,  Ostrea  [fabbonny  and  Cardium 
i'Airtum.  And  from  the  Ftjrt  Union  GroMp,  on  the  Lower  Fork  of 
Powder  river,  ViciporuH  rvi/ooh/naniin. 

F.  H.  Moek  described,  from  Vuneonver  Jind  Snciji  Islands,  /fo.sltiia 
f,cnuin,  rnoceyniaiis  nuhi(nd(ifus,  Mdotvn  (fibbsana,  linniiliUis inonuc/iis, 
H.  occi'denf.afis,  Ammonites  complexusy  var.  suclensis,  A.  vancouvet'- 
ensi's,  and  Nautilus  campbclli, 

W.  M.  Gabb*  described,  from  Crosswicks  and  other  |)lncc8  in  TS'ew 
Jersey,  Turriteltn  (jranalicosM,  Crassatelln  transversa,  now  Eton 
transversa,  A.rinaia  siibaustratis,  Ctenoides  stiitarrosa,  now  Lima 
sqiiarrosa,  Terebratulitia  hallaua,  Arta-on  rretacens^  A.  ovoideus, 
Natica  infracarinata,  Luvatia  altispira,  Oyrodes  obtasivolvns,  G. 
abbotti,  Turbinopsis  depressa,  Architectonica  abbotti,  now  Maryari- 
tella  abbotti,  Fascioluria  slacki,  Volnta  delaioarensis,  V.  kanei,  V. 
mucronata ;  from  Comanche  Peak,  Texas,  Gtobiconcha  c tt r ta ;  h'om 
Mississippi,  Oyrodes  spillmani,  Ostren  pandifurmis  ;  from  Alabama, 
Trochit.s  morion i,  Gryphwa  thirsa; ;  from  New  Jersey,  Teredo  con- 
torta,  now  Tnrnus  contortns,  Anatina  elliptica,  now  Periploma  dllip- 
tica,  Venilia  triyona^  now  Veniella  triyona,  Area  altirostris,  Cii- 
culloia  neylecta,  now  Idonearca  neylecta,  C.  transversa,  now  T.  trans- 
versa, Pecfen  tenuitesta,  Eudea  dichotoma ;  and  from  Tennessee, 
Ctenoides  denticulicosta,  now  Lima  denticulicosta. 

Isaac   Leaf    described,    from    Haddonfield,    New  Jersey,   Corbula 
fonlkei,  Dosinia  haddonjleldensis,  and  3Iodiola  julice,  now    Volsella 
julioi. 

In  18G2,  Gabb  and  Horn;J;  described,  from  Timber  Creek  and  Mull5';a 
Hill,  New  Jersey,  L'ellepora  proUJica,  C,  exserta,  C.  jmmila,  Jle2)lo- 
celleporaria  aspera,  Escharinella  muralis,  lieptescharellina  prolifera, 
Escharipora  distans,  E.  abbotti,  E.  immersa,  lieptescharipora  mar- 
qinata,  Bijfasira  torta,  B.  disjuncta,  Memhranipora  abortiva,  3I.per- 
ampla,  M.plebia,  Flustrella  capistrata,  F.  cylindrica,  Reptojlustrella 
heteropora,  Jietelea  ovalis^  Fascipora  americana,  Spiropora  calamus, 
Entalophora,  quadranyidaris,  E.  conradi,  Diastopora  lineata,  Stoma- 
topora  reyularis,  now  Alecto  leyularis,  lleticidipora  dichotoma,  Cres- 
cis  labiata,  and  from  near  Yazoo,  Mississippi,  Cellepora  janewayi. 

Meek   and  Hayden§   described,    from    the  Fort  Benton   Group,    at 


'■'Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 

t  Proo.  Acatl.  Nat.  Sc\. 

X  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  2d  ser.,  vol  5. 

i  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 


Me^oznir  itiid  Co'tionoic  Gcoloijy  and  P(i1n'otitoU)(j\j, 


75 


Cliip|)(!Wii  l\)int,  l)olow  Fort  liciiton,  on  tlio  Upper  Missouri,  Scaphitci* 
centn'c(mii.i,    S.    rcrmi/ormin,  Ammonites    mtillnuiinus,  Nmifilus  etc- 
(frtns,  var.    iiebifiscoisi.s,   InocerdtuKx  undahtindiiti,   I.  exotji/roides,   f. 
fennirosfvdfus,  Vcnih'n  nn)rt<mi\  now   Venielld  morloni,  aiul   Pholn 
domya  pfipyracea. 

In  1803,  Dr.  J.  S.  Nowberry*  descrihod,  from  Orcns  Island,  Asphni- 
iitn    clo)Ufntinn,   Tn-iUDptcn's  (/{hhni,  and  Ficua    cunentus;  from    Van 
couver's  Islan<l,  Aspldlina  kenncrhji,  and  Td.i'oditua  cnncntum. 

In  1804,  W.  M.  Oabhf  doscrihed,  from  (Jhico  creek,  California,  Calli- 
iDin.ssa,  sthnpsoni^  AmmonUcs  chuunnsis,  I'nrritclld  nhicoensis,  Mere 
fj'ix  leiis,  Doxinia  iti/lftta,  Ti'oi;hosmilia  (jranxlifcrd;  from  Cottonwood 
creek,  and  otluM*  places  in  Shasta  connty,  California,   lielemnife.s  iin 
press'HS,  Am.monites  hrewet'i,  A,  hnijdeni,  A.  traski,  A.  h(\ffm.nnni^  A. 
remondi,  Pti/choceras  (eqKi'co.stnfinn^  now   I[elic(tit('i/lns  (equicostatiia, 
Crioccras  remondi,   now  Anerloceras  remondi,  C.  percostafum,  now 
A.  percosfdtnm,  Fiisn.t  kinr/i,  Neptnnea  cnrvirostra,  X.  perforata,  JV. 
hoffmanni,  Lunatia  acellana^  Einyieuln  varia,  Nerinea  dispar,  Acte- 
onina  pnpoides,  Paj/nellus  maniihriatns,   /'otamidcs  diadema,  Turri- , 
tella  i/)\fralineata,  Nerita  deformis,   Aninoniyon  meeki,  Actwon  im~ 
pressHs,  now  Tornafelhva  impresna,  Tiirnua  plenus,  Panojjoea  concen- 
trica,  now  Homomya  concenirica,  3Ierefrix  arafa,  Eriphyla  vmbo)iata, 
Lithophnffus  oriformis.  Area  bretrerana,  and   Lcda  traaslacida,  now 
IVuculana  translncidn  ;  from  Martinez  and  Clayton,  and  Canada  de  las 
Uva,  Aturia  matfhewsoni,  Uelicoceras  vtrmiculare,  Typhis  antiquus, 
Fusus  martinez,  F.matthewsoni,  now  Snrcii/a  niotthewsoni,F.  nratus, 
F.  Jtexuosuft,  Neptnnea  yracHis,  Peri.ssolax  brevirosfris^  Buccinnm  lira- 
turn,  now  Brachysphiny us  liratns.  N'nssa  cretacea,  N.  antiqaatn,  Pseu- 
doliva  lineata ,0 ' ,' '^ella  matthewsoni ;U'om  San  Ti\Qgo,  Ammonites  cooperl^ 
HemifviUf  coop.rl,  Neptnnea  supra plicata,  Tritonium  dieyoense,  now 
Bucciru-'usy,s    h't  loensis,  Ancillaria  elongata,  Fasciolaria  hi'viuscula^ 
F.  Him  afa.  Ma, ,   iritella  crenulata;  from  A^ancouver   Island.  Itamites 
vau  ,,iii:cy'msi'-:    K-iolen    dieyoensis,  Barhatia   morsei;  from   Martinez, 
Mitra  cretu-doa,  Morio  tuberculatus,   Lunatia  shumardana,   Naticina 
obliqua,  now  Catinns  obliquus,  Cinulia  matthewsoni;    from    Pence's 
Ranch,  Butte  county,  Uelicoceras   breweri,  II.  declive,  Ptychoceras 
quadratum,   Nej)tunea  ponderosa,   Ilaydenia  impressa,  Gyrodes  con- 
radanus,  G.  exjjansus,  Potamides  tenuis, Martesia  clausa,  Anatina  lata; 
from   Trinity    river  in   Trinity  count}^,   Crioceras   latum;  from  Fort 
Tejon,  Fasciolaria  io,  now  Surcula  io,  Whitneya  ficus,  Lunatia  horni, 


*!> 


<'  Bost  Jour.  Nat    Hist ,  vol.  7. 
t  Pal.  of  California,  vol.  1. 


-I' 


■w 


Mi 


n  I 


76 


Cretaceous, 


L.  intciformis,  Never I'ta  secta,  ArchitectoniGa  horni,  Conns  horni,  C. 
sinMiitus,  now  Surcula  sinuata;  from  Tuscan  Springs,  Fusus  averilli, 
Ficus  cyprceoides,  Amaurnpsis  oviformis,  Cinulia  ohliqnd  ;  from 
Mount  Diablo  and  other  places,  Fttsiis  dfaboli,  F.  calif  ornicus,  Ilemi- 
fusus  horni,  H.  remondL  Tnrris  claytonensis,  T.  varicosiata,  Covdiera 
microittydma,,  Tritonium  horni,  T.  paHcivaricatum,  T.  whitncyi, 
Pseudoh'va  volutiformis ;  from  INIartincz,  near  Benicia,  Tuscan 
Springs,  Texas  flat,  in  Placer  count}-,  Clayton,  Fort  Tejon,  Alameda 
county,  Pence's  Ranch,  Contra  Costa  county,  Rag  Canon  and  other 
parts  of  California,  Cinvlia  pingins,  Acfeonlna  cdlifornica,  Glohi- 
concha  remondi,  Cylindrites  brevis^  iV/.vo  j)oh'fft  Cerithiopsis  (t/fer- 
nata,  ArchifecJonica  veatchi,  A.  co(/n<if(i,  A.  ,',inrn((ta,  3Iar(j((riteUa 
globosa,  Diseohelix  leana,  Straparollns  pancivolvua.  3.  lens.  Angaria 
ornafissima,  Conns  remondi,  Rimelhi  cancllfera,  B.  simplex,  Piignell- 
us  hamidtts,  Tessarolax  disforfn,  AporrJiaisfalciforn^is,  now  An chura 
falciformis,  A.  angulata,  A.  californica,  A.  exilis,  Cvprcea  bayerquei, 
Littorina  comxtacta,  now  Ataphras  compachid,  T>irr>  clla  veafchi,  T. 
robnsfa,  Galertis  exrentricus^  now  Galeroj^sis  excentrr  c,  Spirocrypta 
pilevm,,  Nerita  canenta,  Lysis  di/plico^ta,  Dentalinii  piisilhim,  D. 
cooper i^  D.  sframineum,  Emarginnla  radiala,  Patella  traski,  HelrJon 
circtdaris,  H.  dichofoma^  Bvlla  Jiorni,  Cylichna  cos'ata,  Jfegistoma 
striatum,  Solen  parallehts,  now  Plectosolen  parallehis,  Pharella  alia, 
Corbvla  primorsa,  C.  fraski,  C.  cvlfriforniis,  C.  horni  G.  parilis,  An- 
atina  tryonana,  A.  inceqiiilateralis,  Pholadomya  hrevjeri,  P.  nastifd, 
Nea'ra  dolabriforniis,,  3Iactra  ashbnrneri,  now  Cjmbophora  ash- 
burneri,  Lntraria  truncat(t,  Asnphis  undtdafa,  Gari  fexfo,  Tellina 
longa,  T.  remondi,  T,  hoffmannana,  T.  nionilifera,  T.  ovoides,  T. 
ma'theivsoni,  T.  decurtata,  T.  quadra  fa,  T.  aslburneri,  T.  par- 
ilis.  T.  horni^  T.  calif  arnica,  Venus  varians,  V.  veatchi,  V.  len- 
ficidaris,  V.  fetrahedra,  3Icretrix  horni,  31.  nifida,  31.  longa,  31. 
oralis,  now  Cyprinopsis  oralis,  Dosinia  elevata,  D.  gyrata,  now  Lv- 
cinc  gyrata,  T<ipes  conradana,  T.  qiiadvata,  Trapezimn  carinatum, 
Cyprinella  tenuis,  Cardinni  (innnhifitni,  C.  remondianiim,  C.  coopcri, 
C.  breweri,  C.  placerensis,  Cardifa  horni,  Lucina  nasvta,  L.  postradi- 
ata,  L.  siibcirodaris,  L.  cumnlata,  L.  cretacea,  Loripes  dnbia,  now 
Clisocoliis  dabiiis,  3fysia  polita,  Astarte  conradana,  A.  matthewsoni, 
A.  tuscana,  Crassatella  grandis,  Anthonya  cultriformis,  Unio  penid- 
timiis,  3fytiliis  panpercidas,  3[.  ascia,  3Iodiola  ornata,  now  Volsella 
ornata,  31.  cylindrica,  now  V.  cylindrica,  Scptifer  dichofonius,  Cren- 
ella  Goncentrica,  now  Stalagmiam  concentric  inn,  Avicula  pellvcida, 
Inoceramus  piochi,  Pmna  breweri,  Trigonia  tryonana,  Meekia  sella, 


3fesozo(C  and  Cosnozoic  Geologi/  and  PaUvontology. 


It 


M.  radiata.  M.  navis,  Area  horni,  A.  gravida,  A.  decurtata,  CiicnUoia 
mattheiosoni,  C.  trnncata,  Axinma  veatchi,  A.  sagittata,  A.  cor,  Liro,- 
opsis  transversa,  Pecfcn  traski,  P.  opercuUformis,  P.  cali'fornicus, 
Lima  microtis,  L.  appressa,  Plicatula  variata^  Ostrea  breweri,  Exo- 
gyra  parasitica,  Terebratella  obesa^  Flabelbiyn  reinondianinn,  Tro- 
chosmilia  striata,  Astroaenia  petrosa,  Ficus  mammillatus,  now  Fi- 
eopsis  mammillatuK,  Natica  nvasaiiH,  Scalaria  matthewsoni,  Turri- 
tella  infra- (iranii lata,  Chione  angulata,  now  Callista  angulata.  Tapes 
cretacea,  C^irdita  veneriformis,  Yotdia  nasnta,  Placvnanomia  inor- 
nata;  from  Siskiyou  Mountains  of  Oregon,  ,iS'i7«'5;/Y/  oregonensis^  Tell- 
ina  whitnegi,  Dosinia  pertenids,  Modiola  siskiyoiiensis,  now  Volsella 
siskiyoaensis,  and  Ostrea  maUeiformis. 

In  18G5,  J.  D.  Whitne}'*  described  the  Contra  Costa  Hills,  which 
consist  of  a  subordinate  group  of  elevations,  lying  west  of  Martinez 
and  the  San  Ramon  and  Liverraore  Valleys,  and  extend  through  Contra 
Costa  county  into  Alameda  and  Santa  Clara,  and  finally  become 
merged  in  the  Mount  Hamilton  division  of  the  Monte  Diablo  Range. 
The}'  are  made  up  of  Tertiary  and  Cretaceous  strata,  usually  but  little 
metamorphosed,  although  a  belt  extending  along  their  western  side  is 
considerably  altered  from  its  original  character. 

Beginning  at  the  northvvost  extremity  of  the  group  at  Martinez,  we 
have  in  the  immediate  vicinity-  of  that  place  Cretaceous  strata,  well 
exposed  in  the  blrffs  along  the  Straits  of  Carquines.  Here  the  rocks 
observed  are  sandstones,  shales  and  argillaceous  limestones,  the  latter 
forming  bands  and  lenticular  masses  in  the  shales,  generally  but  a 
few  inches  thick,  although  sometimes  as  much  as  three  feet.  Their 
strike  is  usually  about  N.  42°  W,  varying,  however,  from  N.  ;39°  VV",  to 
N.  44°  W,  and  they  dip  southwest  at  an  angle  of  from  35°  to  00°.  The 
rocks  near  Martinez  have  furnished  a  great  many  species  of  fossils. 

In  passing  along  the  shore  of  the  Straits  of  Carquines,  west  of  Mar- 
tinez, the  Cretaceous  strata  occur  for  about  seven  miles,  and  are  made 
up  of  shales  and  sandstones,  the  former  containing  frequent  thin  lawyers 
of  hydraulic  limestone.  The!<e  rocks  exhibit  but  few  fossils.  The  dip 
and  strike  are  variable,  but  generally  nbout  east  and  west  magnetic, 
and  the  dip  is  also  irregular,  but  almost  r.lways  to  the  southwest,  and 
at  almost  every  angle  from  nearly  hnri?oatal  to  vertical  ;  tlie  strike  is 
nearly  parallel  with  the  line  of  the  Straits.  Near  the  upper  limit  of 
the  Cretaceous,  are  sandstones  very  like  those  of  Monte  Diablo,  which 
accomi)an,y  the  coal,  and  they  contain  a  considerable  quantity  of  car 
bonaceous  matter,  but  no  regular  coal  bed,  so  far  as  yet  discovered.. 


(Jeology  of  California,  vol.  1. 


u 


1  i 


78 


Cretaceous. 


'''%■ 


»:    , 


'■■    h 


':i''-  li'i 


Near  these  carbonaceous  strata,  and  above  them,  is  a  narrow  belt, 
partly  altered  and  folded,  and  from  150  to  200  feet  in  width.  The 
Rodes  Valley  marks  the  limit  of  the  Cretaceous  going  west  from  INlar- 
tinez,  the  Tertiary  succeeding  in  that  direction,  and  resting  conform 
ably  on  the  strata  beneath,  and  having  the  same  general  southwestern 
dip.  South  of  Martinez,  the  Cretaceous  strata  have  a  higher  dip,  but 
in  the  same  direction. 

Near  the  "  Walnut  Creek  House,"  a  small  patch  of  Cretaceous 
occurs,  extending  over  a  few  acres,  from  which  the  o\erIyiiig  Tertiary, 
forming  the  crown  of  a  low  anticlinal,  has  been  denuded. 

Monte  Diablo  is  one  of  the  most  con8[)icuous  and  best  known  land- 
marks of  California.  The  central  mass  is  made  up  of  metamori)hi(' 
rocks;  it  is  about  six  miles  long,  and  H  miles  in  widtli,  and  is  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  entirely  unmetamorphosed  strata.  It  is  of  an 
irregular  crescent  form,  the  concave  side  turned  to  the  north  northeast. 
It  consists  essentially  of  a  central  portion  of  very  luii'd  inetainorphic 
sandstone,  containing  considerable  epidote,  flanked  on  both  sides  by 
jaspers,  sllicified  shales  and  slates.  The  former  constitutes  the  north 
peak,  the  latter  the  main  peak,  on  Monte  Diablo  itself.  Along  the 
flanks  of  the  ridge  of  which  Eagle  point  is  the  culmination,  one  may 
observe  the  gradual  passage  of  the  argillaceous  sandstone  into  the 
hard  dioritic  or  trappean  rock.  The  st'-ata  may  he  traced  in  all  stages 
of  passage,  from  the  soft  sandstone  to  the  hardest  and  inost  crystalline 
rock.  On  the  outside  of  the  great  central  metamorphic  mass,  both  on 
the  north  and  south,  are  heavy  accumulations  of  jaspery  rock,  one  of 
the  most  peculiar  features  of  the  nnMintain,  and  the  material  of  which 
the  culminating  point  itself  is  made  up.  The  jasper  varies  in  color 
from  a  dull  brick  red  to  a  brilliant  vermillion  hue,  and  m.'iy  l)e  traced 
in  the  ravines  in  which  Bagley  creek  heads,  passing  into  the  unaltei'cd 
shales  of  undoubted  Cretaceous  age,  containing  Ammointes  Inocera- 
m/?f.s.  and  other  fossils.  These  jaspers  are  evidently  the  result  of  the 
alteration  of  the  Cretaceous  shales.  Cold,  copper  ni  cinnabar  have 
been  found  in  these  metamorphosed  rocks. 

The  unaltered  Cretaceous  strata,  consisting  of  shales,  sandstones 
and  argillaceous  limestone,  flank  the  sides  of  Monte  Diablo,  and  run 
out  into  the  plains  of.the  Sai,  Jonquin  in  long,  low,  and  almost  |)aral- 
lel  ridges.  Coal  has  been  found  in  the  shales,  but  the  extensive  work- 
able beds  are  included  in  the  sandstones  belonging  to  the  upper  part 
of  ^  ''.••  Cretaceous.  The  Arroyo  del  Puerto,  Lone  Tree  Canon,  and 
Hospital  Canon,  cut  through  sandstones  and  shales  of  Cretaceous  age. 
The  summit  of  Mount  Oso  is  composed  of  jasp^M's,  generally  dull  red, 


Mesozoic  oid  Canozoic  Geology  and  PahHontohffi/. 


79 


but  often  gray  luid  giftMi,  with  rctifiilations  of  qiuiilz,  like  the  rock.t 
of  Moiite  Diablo,  aiul  consists  of  metamorphosed  Cr<!taeeous  rooks. 

Nortli  of  the  month  of  San  Luis  creek  the  strata  consist  of  conglom- 
erates, sandstones  and  shales  of  Cretaceous  age.  The  conglomerates 
generally  form  the  crests  of  the  ridges,  and  are  very  coarse,  containing 
numerous  boulders  from  one  to  two  cubic  feet  in  size.  These  consist 
of  porphyry,  granite,  and  various  forms  of  metamorphic  rock,  entirely 
unlike  the  metamorphic  Cretaceous  of  the  center  of  the  chain. 

Thejaspery  beds  of  Chisnantuck  ate  the  exact  counterpart  of  those 
of  Monte  Diablo,  which  we  know  to  be  Cretaceous,  and  those  of  Mine 
Hill,  which  contain  the  deposits  of  cinnabar,  are  evidently  the  continua- 
tion of  those  of  Mount  Chisnantuck.  And  as  we  trace  them  farther 
north,  to  the  extremity  of  the  peninsula,  we  find  them  still  retaining 
the  same  litliological  character,  while  we  have  there  the  evidence  of 
fossils  to  prove  them  to  belong  to  the  Cretaceous  epoch.  Deposits  of 
cinnabar  have  been  found  in  rocks  of  Triassic  and  Tertiary  age,  but 
the  hirge  and  valuable  deposits  are  in  the  Cretaceous. 

The  larger  portion  of  the  rocks  which  make  up  the  north  end  of  the 
peninsula  of  San  Francisco,  are  Cretaceous.  The  rocks  in  the  vicinit}' 
of  Clear  Lnlte,  when  not  of  volcanic  origin,  are  Cretaceous,  and  are  the 
continuation  of  a  great  belt  of  strata  of  this  tige,  which  commences  at 
Benicia,  and  stretches  off  to  the  northwest  for  an  indefinite  distance, 
apparently  coming  out  to  the  ocean  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Men- 
docino. The  termination  of  the  Coast  Range  at  Benicia  is  of  unal- 
tered Cretaceous  strata,  much  broken,  and  forming  rounded  hills,  des- 
titute of  trees.  Here  as  in  Contra  Costa  county,  the  Cretaceous  is  well 
represented  both  by  the  bluish  cla}^  shales,  with  interstratifled  beds  of 
argillaceous  limestone,  and  by  the  overlying  masses  of  blue  and  yellow 
sandstones,  the  latter  in  very  heavy  beds. 

The  Cretaceous  formation,  which  is'  seen  cropping  out  near  the 
northern  base  of  the  twin  sisters,  is  continuous  from  that  place  as  far 
north  as  Capel  Valley,  at  which  point  it  becomes  metamorphic  and 
broken.  The  hills  lying  between  the  Sacramento  and  Suisun  Valleys 
are  of  this  age,  and  appear  to  form  a  line  of  foot  hills  along  a  high 
Cretaceous  ridge,  made  up  of  unaltered  shales  and  sandstones,  running 
nearly  northwest  and  southeast,  and  extending  from  Suisun  Bay  to 
Puta  Jreek.  This  range  is  about  3,500  feet  high,  and  the  ridge  along 
the  summit  is  formed  by  heavy  bedded  sandstones.  , 

Cretaceous  strata,  in  the  San  Emidio  Canon,  are  seen  resting  on  the 
granite  and  upturned  edges  of  the  mica  and  hornblende  slates.  At  the 
Canada  de  los  Alisos,  which  debouches  into  the  plain  four  miles  cast 


80 


Cretaceous. 


of  the  Las  Uvas  Canon, 'the  Cretaceous  belt  is  over  a  mile  wide,  aud 
forms  hills  about  1,000  feet  abova  the  plain. 

The  base  of  the  foot  hills  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  is  bordered,  for  a  large 
part  of  the  distance,  between  Tejon  Pass  and  the  head  of  the  Sacra- 
mento Valley,  by  a  series  of  beds  of  stratified  Cretaceous  materials- 
resting  apparently  undisturbed,  and  in  a  nearly  horizontal  position,  on 
the  upturned  edges  of  the  metamorphic  slates  and  granitic  rocks  of 
which  the  foot-hills  are  formed.  These  materials,  however,'  are  not 
seen  farther  south  than  Folsom,  Good  exposures  may  be  seen  on  Butte 
and  Chico  creeks.  On  the  north  side  of  the  Cottonwood,  beginning  at 
Horsetown,and  extending  west  to  the  Coast  Ranges,  Cretaceous  strata 
lie  at  the  base  of  the  mountains,  and  form  a  table-land  about  1,200  feet 
high,  and  have  generall}^  a  southeasterly  dip.  Cottonwood  creek  runs 
nearly  south  from  the  summit  of  the  Siskiyou  Mountains  to  the 
Klamath  river,  a  distance  of  13  miles.  The  valle}'  of  which  is  about 
10  miles  long,  aud  is  excavated  in  the  softer  and  unaltered  Cretaceous 
strata,  having  on  either  side  harder  rocks,  namely  the  auriferous  slates 
on  the  west,  and  the  modern  volcanic  on  tise  east. 

Dr.  Joseph  Leidy*  described,  from  New  Jersev,  Crocodilus  tene- 
hrosKS,  C.  ohsGuras,  now  Holops  chscarus^  CoslosuKriis  antiquas, 
Tcmodon  hotTiJicus,  now  Diplotomodon  horrljicns,  Chelo7ie  sopita, 
now  Osteopygis  sopltus,  Emys  firmus^  now  Agomphiis  flrmns,  E.  beatas, 
nov/  Adociis  beatus,  and  Bothreniys  cooki ;  from  Maryland,  Aslrodon 
johnstoni  ;    and  from  Minnesota,  Piratosavrus  pUcatus. 

T.  A.  Conradjf  from  New  Jersey,  Ostrea  tuonieyi^  Mortonia  turgida, 
and  Volutiltthes  li'oderrua,  now  Leioderma  lloderma. 

In  1866,  T.  A.  Conrad];  described,  from  Alabama,  Dlploschiza  cre- 
tacea,  and  Terebratuliaa  ftlosa. 

Prof  E.  D.  Cope^  described,  from  the  greensand  two  miles  south  of 
Barnesboro,  Gloucester  county,  New  Jersey,  Lculajts  aquilunguis,  and 
from  Camden  county,  Aturia  paucijex. 

In  1867,,  Prof.  F.  V.  Hayden||  referred  the  rocks  at  Yankton,  the 
capital  of  Dakota  Territory,  located  on  the  Missouri,  about  twelve 
miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  James,  to  the  yellow,  calcareous 
marl  beds  of  No.  3.  of  the  Niobrara  division  of  the  Cretaceous.  The 
same  rocks  wei'c  found  at  Fort  FjuTies,  about  twelve  miles  below  tlie 
mouth  of  Firesteel  creek,  a  branch  of  the  James,  and  tlieir  thickness 


'■'  Crot.  Reptiles',  U.  S..  vol.  14,  Smithsonian  Contributions. 

t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 

I  Am. .lour.  Conch.,  vol.  2. 

I  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 

I  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  .iml  Arts,  2d  sor     vo'.t:.'.. 


Mesozoic  and  Ccbnozoic  Geology  and  Polcnontology. 


81 


estimated  at  from  80  to  100  feet,  underlu'ul  by  No.  2  of  the  Niobrara 
division.  The  entire  surface  of  the  country,  i'rom  the  latter  phice,  in 
nortlieustern  Dakota,  to  Fort  Dakota,  at  Sioux  falls,  on  the  Big  Sioux 
river,  is  referred  to  the  Cretaceous. 

Prof.  Va.  D.  Cope*  described,  from  Camden  county.  New  Jerse3%  Ev- 
clantes  platyops,an(]  Thoracosaarus  brevispinus,novf  Holops  brevispintis. 

The  Cretaceous  rocks  occupy  a  belt  or  strip  of  country  in  New  Jer- 
sey f  which  stretches  obliquely  across  the  State,  from  Raritan  bay  on» 
the  northeast,  to  the  head  of  Delaware  bay  on  the  southwest.  The 
extreme  length  of  the  formation,  from  the  highlands  of  Navesink  to 
the  Delaware,  above  Salem,  is  about  100  miles.  Its  breadth  at  the 
northeast  end,  from  Woodbridge  to  Deal,  is  27  miles,  and  at  the  s'nitli- 
west  end,  from  the  mouth  of  Oldman's  creek  to  Woodstown,  it  is 
lOf  miles.  The  area  included  in  this  formation  is  about  1,500  scpuire 
miles. 

It  is  subdividetl  in  ascending  order,  as  follows: 

1.  Plastic  clays,  210  feet. 

2.  Clay  marls,  277  feet. 

3.  Lower  marl  bed,  ;}0  feet. 

4.  Red  sand,  100  feet. 

5.  iMiddle  marl  bed,  45  feet. 

6.  Yellow  sand,  43  feet. 
Total  thickness,  705  feet. 

The  kaolin,  which  is  dug  so  »>'xtensively,  belongs  to  the  plastic  ehiy 
of  the  above  subdivision.  It  is  a  very  fine  micaceous  sand,  with  some 
fire-clay  intermixed,  and  streaks  of  clay  passing  tiirough  it.  It  is  of 
a  bluish-white  color,  ««,nuy  in  consistency  when  drained,  but  pasty 
when  woiked  u|)  in  vvatcr. 

Prof.  E.  D.  (vope;*;  descrii)ed,  from  New  .Jov%{iy,Osteo2)y<jls  emaryin- 
atus^  Cb'ddstes  iyiianarii.s^  Nectoportlieas  ciiUdus,  Emys  petrosas, 
now  Ayomphui-  petrosus,  E/'f.siiiosduriis  orientalis,  and  from  the 
Niobrara  Grou[),  near  the  boundary  line  between  Kansas  and  Colo- 
rado, a  short  <li stance  north  of  the  Smoky  Hill  fork  of  the  Kansas 
river,  E.  plafyiirus. 

Dr.  Joseph  Leidy  described,  from  near  Fort  Hays,  Kansas,  Ptychodus 
occidentalism  and  from  tlie  Judith  Ri'-er  'Iroup,  Auhlysodon  mircmdus, 
now  Anblysodoh  horridns. 


if 
I 


'■'  Proc.  Ai'iul.  Nat.  Sci, 

t  Geo,  of  Now  Jersey.  18G8. 

J  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 


W^ 


82 


Cretaceous. 


';<,\ 
'"<!•• 


%  I 


|!V 


t:  i^. 


Prof.  LeoLe8queroux*(lescribe(l,  fi  om  the  Dakota  Group, north  of  Fort 
Ellsworth,  Nebraska,  or  its  vicinity,  J  rophyHum  haydeni,  Olypto- 
strobus  (jracilUmus,  Sequoia  fonnosa,  i  /ly/locladns  subinteyr  if  alius, 
Arundo  cretaceuSf  Liquidamher  integrifoh'nm,  Populus  laucastriensis, 
PopuUtes  ele'jans,  P.  Jlabellata,  P.  salisburyoifolia,  P.  ovnta,  now 
Ampelophyllum  ovntum,  P.  quadrangular  is,  now  H  amamel  ites  quad- 
rangularis,  Salix  protewfolia,  Betula  beatriciana,  Fagtis  polycladus, 
tQuercus  primordialis,  now  Dryophyllum  priniordiale,  Q.  hexagona,  Q. 
ellsworthanus,  Q.  anceps,  now  Diospyros  anceps,  Q.  semialutus,  now 
Anisophyllum  semialatum,  Ficus  ( ?)  rhomboideus^  now  Phyllites 
rhomb oideus,  Ficus  {?)  Jimbriatus,  now  Fremophyllum  Jimbriatum, 
Platamis  aceroides,  var.  latior,  P.  obtusiIoba,P.  diminutivus,Credneria 
leconteana,  now  Protophyllam  lecoiteanum,  Laurus  macro  car  pus. 
Sassafras  mudgei,  S.  subintegrifolium,  Lyriodendron  gignnteam,  L. 
intermedium,  Magnolia  tenuifolia,  Dombeyopsis  obtvsiloba,  now 
3fenispermites  obtnsilobus,  Negundoidcs  acutifolia.,  Paliurus  mem- 
hranaceus,  Bhamnus  tei  ux,  riiyllites  rhoifoUus^  Phyllites  amorphus, 
P.  umbonatus,  anti  Pru7ius  cretaceus. 

In  Tennessee,!  wherever  the  Cretaceous  rocks  are  exposed,  they  lie 
upon  Palffiozoic  strata.  They  are  subdivided  into,  first,  Coffee 
Sand  Group  ;  second,  Green  Sand  Group,  or  the  shell  bed;  and  third, 
Ripley  Group. 

The  Coffee  Sand  Group  derives  its  name  from  the  exposure  at  Coffee 
Landing,  on  the  Tennessee  river.  It  outcrops  in  Hardin  and  Decatur 
counties,  and  overlaps  the  Western  beveled  edge  of  the  older  rocks. 
Its  outcrop  occupies  a  belt  of  territory  varying  from  two  to  eight  miles 
in  width,  and  running  more  tlian  half  wa}-  through  the  State,  It  has 
a  ii.aximum  thickness  of  about  200  feet.  It  consists  mostlj'  of 
stratified  sands,  usually  containing  scales  of  mica.  Thin  leaves  of 
dark  clay  are  often  interstratified  with  the  sand,  the  clay  leaves  occa- 
sionally predominating.  Sometimes  beds  of  dark  laminated  or  slaty 
clay  of  considerable  thickness,  from  one  to  twenty  feet  or  more,  are 
met  with  in  the  series.  It  very  generally  contains  woody  fragments 
and  leaves,  converted  more  or  less  into  lignite.  Silicified  trunks  of  trees 
are  not  uncommon.  When  it  passes  under  Green  Sand  it  becomes  the 
reservoir  which  yields  water  when  pierced  by  the  well-borers.  It  is 
the  equivalent  of  the  Tombigbee  Sand  of  Hilgard  in  Slississippi. 

Fossil  shells  are  so  abundant  in  the  Green  Sand,  at  some  points, 
that  they  are  gathered  by  car  loads  and  burned  into  limo.     The  maxi- 


<'  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  2d  ser.,  vol.  46. 
t  Goo.'ofTenn.,1869. 


fill 


Mesozolc  and  Ccenozoic  Gcoloyy  and   Palmontoloyij. 


m 


mum  thickness  ascertainerl  from  data,  fiirnishetl  by  woU-borors,  is  350 
feet.  Its  outcroi>  occupies  a  belt  of  the  surface  averaging  aliout  eight 
miles  wide  for  at  least  half  way  through  the  State,  This  Group  is 
the  northern  extension  of  the  rotten  limeslone  of  Mississippi  and 
Alabama. 

The  Ripley  Group  occupies  a  belt  of  the  surface  along  the  Memphis 
and  Charleston  Railroad  about  fifteen  miles  wide,  but  having  a  less 
average  width  across  the  State.  The  high  ridges  dividing  the  waters 
of  the  Tennessee  and  ^Mississippi  rivers  lie  mostly  within  its  aren.  It 
has  a  thickness  of  400  or  500  feet,  and  is  mostl}'  made  up  of  stratified 
sands,  though  occasionally  an  interstnitified  ]>ed  of  dark,  slaty  clay, 
10  to  30  feet  in  thickness,  occurs,  or  more  frequently  a  sandy  bed 
laminated  with  clayey  leaves.  The  hills  about  Purdy,  in  McNairy,  and 
about  Lexington,  in  Henderson  county,  show  these  rocks  well;  but 
more  interesting  sections,  on  account  of  the  fossils  they  contain,  are 
found  in  Hardeman,  near  the  M.  &  C.  R.  R. 

In  18G9,  J.  D.  Whitney*  divided  the  Cretaceous  formation,  which  is 
found  covering  large  areas  on  the  west  cwast,  from  Vancouver  and  the 
adjacent  islands  of  San  Juan  Archii)elago  on  the  north,  through 
Washington  Territory  and  Oregon  to  Southern  California,  as  well  as  iso- 
lated patches  in  p]astern  Oregon  and  in  Mexico,  into  four  groui)s,  as 
follows: 

1.  The  Tejon  Group,  the  most  modern  member,  is  [)eculiar  to  Cali 
fornia.  It  is  found  most  extensively  develoi)ed  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Tejon  and  about  IMartincz.  From  the  latter  locality  it  forms  an  almost 
continuous  belt  in  the  Coast  Ranges  to  ^lai'sh's,  fifteen  miles  east  of 
Mt.  Diablo,  where  it  sinks  under  the  San  Joaquin  Plain.  It  is  also 
found  at  various  points  on  the  eastern  face  of  the  same  range,  as  far 
south  as  New  Idrca,  and  in  Mendocino  county,  noai;  Round  Valley, 
the  latter  locality  being  the  most  northern  point  at  which  it  i;-*  yet 
known.     It  is  the  onlv  coal-producing  formation  in  California. 

This  group  contains  a  large  and  highly  characteristic  series  of  fossils, 
the  larger  part  peculiar  to  itself,  '.vhiie  a  considerable  percentage  is 
found  extending  Ijelow  into  the  next  group,  and  several  species  ^till 
further  down  into  the  Chico  Group.  Mr.  Gabb  considered  it  as  lie 
probable  equivalent  of  the  JNIaesti'icht  beds  of  Europe. 

2.  The  Martinc/  Group,  which  includes  a  series  of  beds,  of  small  geo 
graphical   extent,  found  at    Martinez   and    on  the    northern    fljink    ot 
Monte  Diablo. 


f  :■ 


^■ 


.1 


\f^ 


■Pal.  ofCal.,  vol.  2. 


84 


Cretaceous, 


L 


¥ 


li.  The  Chic'o  Group,  one  of  tlio  most  extensive  and  important  mem- 
liors  of  the  Pacific!  coast  Cretaceous.  It  is  on  the  horizon  of  eitiior  tlic 
ui)pcr  or  lower  chalk  of  Euro|)e,  and  probabl}'  the  equivalent  of 
both.  It  is  extensively  represented  in  Shnsta  and  Butte  counties,  and 
in  the  toot  hills  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  as  far  south  as  Folsom,  occurr- 
ing, also,  on  the  eastern  face  of  the  coast  ranges,  bordering  tiic  Sacra- 
mento valley  at  Martinez,  and  again  in  Orcstimba  canon,  in  Stanislaus 
count}'.  It  includes  all  of  the  known  Cretaceous  of  Oregon,  and  of  the 
extreme  northern  portion  of  California,  and  is  the  coal-bearing  forma- 
tion of  Vancouver's  Island. 

4.  The  Shasta  Group,  including  all  below  the  Chico  Group.  It  con- 
tains fossils  seemingly  representing  ages,  from  tlic  Gault  to  the  Neo 
comien,  inclusive,  and  is  found  principally'  in  the  mountains  west  and 
northwest  of  the  Sacramento  valley.  Two  or  three  of  its  characteristic 
fossils  have  been  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Monte  Diablo,  and  one  of  the 
same  species  has  been  collectGd  in  Washington  Territory,  east  of  I  uget 
Sound.  Few,  or  none,  of  its  fossils  are  known  to  extend  upward  into 
the  Chico  Group. 

W.  M,  Gabb*  described,  from  Shasta  county,  from  Martinez,  Benicia, 
Colusa  county,  Tejon,  and  other  places  in  California,  Phil  of  eufhi  s  foil - 
(itns,  Belemnifes  impressn.f,  Ammonites  jugcdis,  A.  sfohczknnus,  A. 
fraternvs,  Ancylocerns  Uneatiim^  Diptychocerns  laet^e,  Fnsns  tumidim, 
F.  ore idenf alia,  Ifeptvnen  crefncea,  JV.  mucronafa,  Pnlcnatrnctus 
crassns,  Surculn  piveatfe.  nata,  8.  inconspicua,  Heteroterma  trochoidea-, 
Bela  clrithrdfn,  Cordiera  mifrwformis,  Trifonivm  colifornicum,  T, 
tejonense,  T.  fusiforme,  B rachysphingus  sinnatus,  Bullia  striata. 
Turbinellf  C7'assitesfa,  Urosyca  luncdnta,  JSieoerita.  globosa,  Am.pnllina 
striata,  Terebra  calif ornica,  Cyprma  mathewsoni,  Anchura  trans- 
versa^ A.  carivifera,  Helicaulax  biearinata,  H.  costata,  Loxotrema 
turritd;  Atresias  liratiis.  Tnrritella  martinezensis,  Nerita  triangulata. 
Calliostoma  radiatum,  Ataphrtis  crassus,  Margaritella  anyitlata, 
Acmwa  tejonensis,  Aetoionella  oviform.is,  Liocium  pmictatum,  Ringi- 
nella  polita^  Sol  en  cnnetitus,  Anatina  quadrata,  Pholadomya  oregon- 
cnsis,  Pleiiromya  papyracea,  Arcomya  undnlata,  Jfactra  tenuissima, 
Asaphis  innlticosta,  Tellina  vndidifera,  Donax  latns,  Venus  aequila- 
feralis,  Jferetrix  fragilis.  Thetis  elongata,  Cardium,  translucidum, 
Crassatella  compacta,  JJnio  hubbardi,  Modiola  major,  now  Volsella 
major,  Meleagrina  antiqua,  Tnoceramus  elliotti,  I.  ivhitneyi,  Tri- 
gonia  aequicostata^  ITucula  soli  tar  ia,  Pecten  martinezensis,  P.  com- 
plex! costa,  P.  interradiatus,  Neithea  grandicosta,  Lima  shastaensis, 

*  Pal.  of  Cal..  vol.  2. 


•i 


Mesozoic  cind  Cwnozoic  Geology  and  Palieontoloyy. 


sn 


L.  multir(((linfa,  Anomia  vaticonverensis,  Osfvca  idrlaensls^O.  (ippressa, 
RlnjHc/honeUd  whifneiji,  SinlJoh'orhuH  vAirtus. 

And  from  tlie  SiciTii  de  lus  ('oiifluis.  neiir  Arivoclii,  Sonora,  .Mexico. 
Fusas  mexicdiiiis,  Knxplni  Uihidatd,  C/ieiniiitziif,  .zebra,  Ti/los/oiuti 
niutabile  Anchin'ci  moniliferd,  CcriJhiani  iiicxiranxm,  Aixjdi'ld  cin- 
yiilafa,  C/nidia  rertilabrnni,  Pkolndoniyd  nonorensis,  Ciwdiiun 
NabulosHiii,  C.  ;ir(tiiul(fernm,  Cardlhi  alficosta,  liemondia  farcatn, 
CiicalUta  inennis,  Gri/phcKt  miuwoimfa. 

Prof.  E.  1).  Cope*  tloscribud,  fVoiu  Raritun  bay,  Oniit/iofdi'sas  im- 
munis;  from  Wcslcni  Kansas,  Macrosdurus  pt'oriijei',  now  Li.odon 
prorif/er ;  from  Sampson  county,  North  Carolina,  Jli/pst'benid  crdssi- 
cduda,  Jlddfosdio'i's  tripos,  and  Po/ydecfes  bifin'fjidus;  from  Nou' 
Jorsoy,f  MosdsdKrits  nidxiiiias,  and  from  Alabama,  Ch'ddstes  propyfhon. 

Prof.  O.  C  Marsh*  described,  from  the  greonsand  marl,  near  Horners- 
town,  IMonmonth  county.  New  Jersey,  Mosasdnrus  copedniis^  M. 
miersi,  M.  princcj>s,  JfdlisdnrKs/rdferinis^  now  lidjjtosdxrusfraternus, 
and   //.  p/dfi/spondi/lus,  now  U.  plttli/spondijlus. 

Prof.  Leo  Lescjuereuxj^  described,  from  the  Daliota  Group,  at  I'ort 
Ellsworth,  Nebraska,  Populites  microphyllas,  Pkyllifes  belnhvfolins, 
Persed  nebrascensis,  now  Laurus  jiabrascensis,  and  Sassafrcts  leconfe- 
anum,  now  Persed  leconle<tna. 

The  Cretaceous  is  the  lowest  formation  exposed  in  Louisiana,!  and  it 
comes  to  the  surfa(;e  on!}'  at  the  limestone  hills  of  St.  Landry  and 
Winnfield.  The  borings  that  have  been  made  for  salt,  however,  show 
that  it  is  more  that  1,000  feet  in  thickness.  The  strata  are  saline,  and 
pure  beds  of  rock  salt  sometimes  occur. 

The  Cretaceous  rocks  liave  been  observed  in  Plymouth,  Woodbur\', 
Cass,  Guthrie,  Pottawattamie,  iMontgomery,  Carroll  and  Greene  coun- 
ties,^ Iowa.  In  all  but  the  first  two  the}'  appear  as  outliers.  On 
account  of  the  drift  which  covers  the  western  half  of  this  State,  the 
area  of  the  Cretaceous  has  not  been  determined.  The  exposure  in  Ply- 
mouth and  Woodbury  counties  extends  into  Dakota,  and  belongs  to 
the  Dakota  Group.  The  maximum  thickness  as  far  as  observed  is  IJ50 
feet.  The  rocks  rest  unconformably  upon  the  coal  measures  beneath, 
and  have  a  northwesterly  dip,  while  the  palaeozoic  strata  dip  south- 
westerlv. 


I 


*'  Proc.  Amer.  Phil,.  Soc. 

t  Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  'Niit.  Hist. 

I  Am.  Jour.  Sei.  ami  Arts,  2d  ser.,  vol.  4S. 

I  Trans.  Am.  Pliil.  Soc,  vol.  13. 

II  Geo.  of  Lou.,  1870. 

1[  Geo.  Sur.  Iowa,  1870. 


86 


Ci'cfficeoHs, 


■  ■'I 


r.   I 


'A 


,  J. 


M^ 


In  1S70,  Dr.  J().si'|)li  Lcidy  (UjscribtMl,  from  Middle  Piirk,  Colorado,* 
Pwciloplenron  vithnu;  IVoin  Tickciis  coiiiily,  Ahibiunn,  Cllddstes  I'/i- 
(ei'iHGifius;  from  Kuiisus,  Xip/nictiiiUN  aiiddx',  iind  tVom  ilic  Morouii 
river,  Nothoxiixvops  occidmis. 

Prof.  E.  D.  ('opcf  lU'si'iibed,  IVcun  tlio  {iiven  .Sand  of  New  Jlthcv, 
Adocus  ((ijilis,  A.pectorith'n,  A.si/iithetfcun,  Ivunix  fm'i/idn.s^  now  A(jom- 
phu.s  tHrf/i'dus,  liottoNdurns  fKherciildtiin,  (.'(tfapleuiui  re/ntndu,  (Jstvo- 
pi/f/is  chcli/driiHi,  now  Caffqjfeura  rftefi/drin<(,  I/ifixjNduriis  frater- 
cuhi.s,  now  Giti't'dh'.s  J'rat.tii'culus^  lloliqt.s  cordnfus,  II.  i/lii/ifudon, 
Lcbliips  laacropits,  Liodon  co)i(,i'oj)n,  L.  pei'ldfu.s,  Lyioloiiiii  <iii(jii.st((, 
L.  jeanesi,  Moi!ian(iHrHs  depre.si^nK,  Jf.  fulcid/iis,  M.  iinijUtuns^  M. 
oarthrus,  Osfcopijijis  pldtylomus,  PcritresiKs,  P/dfecarpiis  ttjitipdniti- 
CHo,  Pnenmotarthrus  peloreu.s,  T(tphru,sp/iijN  lenlcyaHun,  T.  Ioikji- 
iiiichiin,  T.  molops,  T.  nodosum,  and  T.  strenuas. 

He  described,  from  tlio  Niobrtiru  Groii[),  al  a  point  six  miles  soi'.;.[i 
of  Sheridan,  Kansas,  Liodon  ini/d(jei,  now  Pldtecuvpnn  niiKhjei,  CU- 
thisfes  eineridric7n,  Sain'occphdliis  prof/iidthun,  Ichffii/odecfe.s  ctenodua; 
from  the  north  haidc  of  Smoky  Hill  river,  thirty  miles  east  of  Fort 
Wallace,  Kansas,  Liodon  ictei'icus^  now  Pldfccar/ms  icf.cricus;  from 
twenty  miles  east  of  Fort  Wallace,  Sa  aroeep)hd  I  us  phUhotamn  h  ;f\-o\\\  near 
Fort  McRae,  in  New  Mexico,  Liodon  dyspelor,  from  the  bank  of  Solo- 
mon's  river,  in  Kansas,  160  miles  from  its  Junction  with  the  Kansas 
river,  SdnrocephdlKs  fhctiiman.,  now  Portheuti  thduruds. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Marsh, ;J;  from  Green  Sand  near  Barusboro,  New  Jersey, 
Iladrosaarus  viinor,  Jfosasaurm  cras,sidens;  fi'om  Hornerstown, 
Liodon  Jaficaudtis;  from  Birmin<i;ham,  Ldornis  cdt\d}'dsdnuN;  and 
also  from  the  Green  San<l  of  New  Jersey,^  PahtotriiKju  littovdhs^  P. 
vetiis,  Telmdtornis  d.pinis,  T.  prisms. 

T.  A.  Conrad|  described,  from  Crosswicks,  New  Jersey,  Inoeeromus 
peciilidi'is,  Crdssdtel/a  prora,  now  J'Jted  jxroi'd,  l^riijonnrca  passu, 
Goniosomd  iiijlatd,  Axinen  inorioiii,  Cijprimerid  spissd,  Dentaliion 
Jcdcatum;  and  from  Iladdon held,  Ndcidaria  papyrid,  Scdiiibula  per- 
plana.,  now  Anthonya  perpldna,  Gouldia  decemnaria,  G.  dedivis, 
<^.ITemoarca  cretarea,  Triyonarca  cnneiformis,  Perrisonota  protexta, 
Camptonecteshellisciilptus,  Liroscupha  squamosa^  Cancelldria  siibalta, 
Eulima    eretdcea,    Gadus   obi'ufus,    Doiiax  fordi;    from    ^Mississippi, 


\ 
\  ■ 

1.' 

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■•'  Proc.  Aciul.  Xiit.  St'i. 

t  Tl•an^;.  Am.  Phil.  Soc.  E.vt    IJiitr.  lleptiliii  N.  Am. 

I  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sei. 

I  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  2d  ser.,  vol.  49  . 

II  Am.  Jour.  Conch.,  vol, 5. 


Mesozoic  mid  Cn-nozoic  Geolor/if  rnuJ   /'iiJfi(»ifi»lor/y. 


87 


•I 


Gemmn  cretiicen:  iuui  IVom  IIii(l(U»nnt'Kl,  New  Jorsev,*  ^Korn  crcfaccit, 
7'eueft  pnri/is^  .Kikuki  jxi/ti/n'ti,  Venilid  el  etxittt,  now  Ve)nella  <^ .  ,rnta, 
Cuvdhtvi  diirnosmn,  imd  Solymd  UnenlrifKH. 

Ill  1871,  Prof.  K.  H.  Mi'L'kf  .said,  tlu>  ((lilcMt  beds  of  tlic  Hciir  river 
coiinli'y  oC  l't:ih  iiiul  Wvoiuiiiji',  properly  bcloiiniuu'  to  tlio  Tortiiiry, 
(tlu'V  firo  now  regiirdc^l  ms  Cretjiceoiisj,  niid  so  iutiniMti'ly  rcliitt-d  t(» 
llio  hitcst  C'retiicooiis,  coiitMiu  species  of  f'ot'huld,  Ci/rciu/  {('orbicnln) 
[jorluips  Octree,  iunl  a  univalve  iclateil  to  Me/aiiiptM,  directly  asso- 
ciated with  several  species  of  G^f^/z/o/jf/.s/.v,  two  of  U /!>'(/,  one  or  two  of 
Melnnfho,  several  species  of  Vicipnms,  one  of  Thii'ii,  etc.,  showing' 
clearly -that  these  striitji  were  deposited  in  brackish  waters.  These 
shells  also  exist  iu  yreat  numbers,  and  are  preserved  in  a  condition, 
sliowin<4' that  they  could  not  have  been  transpoited  far  by  currents, 
l)ut  that  they  must  have  lived  and  dieo,  at  least,  near  where  wc  now 
find  them. 

All  i)alieontologists  are  aware  of  the  fact,  that  the  remains  of  fresh 
and  brackish  w.ater  shells  do  not  generally  present  such  well  marked 
peculiarities  ot  form,  ornamentation,  etc.,  in  beds  of  diirerent  ages,  as 
we  see  in  marine  t3'pes,  so  that  they  can  not  always  l)e  relied  upon,  with 
the  saiue  degree  of  coiifhlence  in  identifying  strata,  that  we  [)lace  in 
marine  forms;  some  of  those  from  oldest  Cretaceous  being,  for  instance, 
very  similar  to  existing  species.  So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  com- 
pare the  species  from  this  formation  with  described  forms  from  other 
parts  of  the  world,  they  generally  agree  most  nearly  with  Lower 
Eocene  types;  the  Curhicidn  and  Tiani  being  very  similar  to  forms 
found  in  the  lower  lignites  of  the  Paris  basin,  and  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Rhone  in  France.  At  the  same  time  it  is  wor;thy  of  note,  that  most 
of  these  shells  are  quite  unlike  any  of  the  known  existing  North 
American  species,  and  one  of  them  (Tiara  humerosa)  liblongs  even  to 
a  genus  entirely  unknown  among  the  existing  Melaina  of  the  American 
C(mtinent,  though  found  inhabiting  the  streams  of  .Madagascar,  the 
Fejee  Islands,  etc.  One  of  the  Uniones  [iT.  hellipUoatiis)  resembles  in 
its  ornamentation  some  of  the  South  American  species,  and  the  genus 
Castalia,  much  more  nearly  tiian  it  does  any  of  the  recent  North 
American  species,  although  having  the  form  and  hinge  of  a  true  U/iin: 
and  another  abundant  bivalve,  found  in  the  same  association,  Corbula 
{Atusothyrin)  pijriforinis,  seems  to  be  allied  in  some  respects  to  a 
peculiar  group  recently  described  from  a  Pli3cene  or  Miocene  forma- 
tion, on  the  Upper  Amazon  of  South  America,  by  Mi-,  Gabb,  under  the 


'•'  Am.  Jour.  Conch.,  vol.  ti. 

tAdvuiu'c  piunphlet  from  ILiyden',-*  U,  8.  (Tco.Sur    of  Wyominp:,  Pte. 


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name  Pachijdon,  and  afterward  renamed  Anisothyris  by  Mr.  Conrad, 
becanse  the   name  Pachyodon  had   been  previousl_y  used  for  another 


genus. 


Of  course,  comparisons  of  the  sheds,  from  this  formation  with  those 
of  the  Tertiary' beds  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  slopes,  afford  no  aid 
whatever  in  fixing  its  precise  position  in  the  series,  because  the  species 
from  the  latter  are,  almost  without  exception,  marine  types.  There  is 
less  difficulty,  however,  in  drawing  parallels  between  it  and  the  Terti- 
arj'  deposits  of  the  Upper  Missouri  country,  by  a  comparison  of  fossils, 
although  the  species  are  mainly  different,  so  far  as  jet  known,  in  these 
two  districts.  At  least  two  of  the  known  forms,  however,  from  the 
Utah  and  Wj'omingbeds  under  consideration,  are  believed  to  be  spe- 
cifically identical,  with  species  found  in  the  oldest  beds,  referred  to  the 
Tertiarj^  at  the  mouth  of  the  Judith  river,  on  the  upper  Missouri, 
under  the  name  of  the  Fort  Unloa  Group.  Thesis  are  Unio  prlscus, 
and  Viviparus  conradi.  In  addition  to  this,  the  fossils  at  these  two 
localities  are  in  precisely  the  same  state  ot  preservation,  and  have  a 
more  ancient  appearance  than  those  of  the  later  deposits  of  both  dis- 
tricts, while  they  also  agree  exactly  in  their  mixture  of  brackish 
and  fresh  water  characters.  Again,  j^t  both  localities,  these  deposits 
are  intimately  associated,  as  already  stated,  with  what  appears  to  be 
the  latest  of  the  Cretaceous  series;  while  in  both  districts  they  contain 
lignite,  and  are  succeeded  by  later  Tertiarj'  beds  of  strictly  fresh  water 


origin. 


He  described,*  from  the  Fort  Pierre  Group,  near  the  great  bend  in  the 
Upper  Missouri,*  Isocardia  hodgei,  now  Procardia  hodgei. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Marshf  named,  from  the  Niobrara  Group,  on  the  North 
Fork  of  the  Smoky  river  in  Kansas,  Edestosaurus  dispar,  now  Cli- 
dasfes  dispar,  E.  velox.  now  C.  viz:.,  Clidastes  pumilis,  C.  wgniani, 
and  Pterodactylus  oweni.^ 

Prof.  E.  D.  Cope  described,.§  from  the  Niobrara  Group,  near  Fossil 
Spring  canon,  Edestosaurus  stenops,  now  Clidastes  stenops,  E.  tortor, 
now  C  tortor,  Ilolcodus  coryphams,  now  Platecarpus  coryphoius, 
Liodon  curtirostris,  now  P.  curtirostris,  L.  glandiferns,  now  P.  glan- 
diferns,  Portheus  molossus,  P.  angulatus,  now  Erisickthe  angulatus  ; 
from  Butte  creek,  Holcodus  tectubis,  now  Platecarpus  tectulus,  Pro- 
tostega  gigas  ;  and  from  one  mile  southwest  of  Sheridan,  near  the 
Gypsum  Buttes,  TAodon  latispinus,  now  Platecarpus  latispinus. 


"  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 

t  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  3d  series,  vol.  1. 

X  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 


Mesozoic  and  Coenozoic  Geology  and  rahvontoloyy. 


89 


In  1872,  Prof.  E.  \V.  Hilgard*  showed  that  the  Cretaceous  of  Alabama 
and  Mississippi  has  a  dip  sensil)ly  at  right  angles  to  tlie  trend  [i.e., 
between  W.  and  S.)  at  the  rate  of  20  to  25  feet  per  mile.  That  the 
lower  division,  called  the  Cotfee  Group,  or  the  Eutaw  Group  is  from 
300  to  400  feet  thick,  and  consists  of  noncalcareous  sands,  and  blue  or 
reddish  laminated  clan's,  with  occasional  beds  of  lignite,  and  rarely 
marine  fossils,  silicified,  as  at  Finch's  Ferry  in  Alabanm.  This  group 
corresponds  with  Hayden's  Dakota  Group,  and  in  its  upper  part,  as  at 
Finch's  Ferry,  probably  with  the  Fort  Benton  Group. 

The  Middle  or  Rotten  Limestone  Group  is  nob  less  than  1,200  feet  in 
maximum  thickness,  consisting  of  soft,  mostly  somewhat  clayey,  whit- 
ish, micro-crystalline  limestones,  and  calcareous  clays;  very  uniform 
on  the  whole,  with  the  exception  of  the  locally  important  feature  of  the 
"Torabigbee  Sand."  The  Cretaceous  area  of  Arkansas,  according  to 
Owen's  description,  seems  to  fall  witliia  this  group,  as  does  also  the 
greater  part  of  the  Cretaceous  area  of  middle  and  northern  Texas. 

The  Ripley  Group  consists  of  crystalline,  sand}'  limestones,  alter- 
nating with  dark-colored  ^lauconitic  marls,  containing  finely  preserved 
fossils,  and  has  a  thickness  of  300  to  350  feet.  It  is  the  equivalent  of 
the  highest  Cretaceous  beds  of  New  Jersey,  and  of  the  Fox  Hills  Group 
of  the  West.  The  series  of  isolated  Cretaceous  outliers,  which  traverse 
Louisiana,  from  the  head  of  Lake  Bisteneau,  in  a  S.  8.  E.  direction  to 
the  great  salt  mass  at  Petite  Ansc,  belong  to  this  Group. 

Prof.  F.  V.  Haydenf  said,  that  in  Nebraska,  tho  sandstones  of  the  Da- 
kota Group  rest  directly  upon  rocks  of  the  age  of  the  Coal  Pleasures.  Al- 
though they  do  not  appear  in  full  force  until  we  reach  a  point  near  De 
Soto  and  beyond,  yet  remnants  of  the  sandstones  make  their  appear- 
ance within  five  or  ten  miles  of  Omaha,  at  any  point  north  of  the  Platte 
river.  It  is  quite  probable  that  they  once  extended  all  over  Nebraska, 
passing  across  into  Iowa,  and  further  eastward.  The  Coal-measure 
limestones  are  thus  exposed,  in  northeastern  Nebraska,  b}'  the  erosion 
of  the  Cretaceous  rocks. 

Near  the  entrance  of  the  Big  Sioux  river,- into  the  Missouri,  the  Dakota 
Group  disappears  beneath  the  water-level,  and  is  succeeded  by  a  series 
of  black,  plastic,  laminated  clays,  with  lighter  colored  arenaceous  part- 
ings and  thin  layers  of  sandstone.  Near  the  mouth  of  the  Vermilion 
river  the  upper  portion  becomes  more  calcareous,  and  gradually  passes 
up  into  the  next  group,  called  the  Fort  lienton  Group.  It  is  often 
immensely  thickened,  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mountains,  from  the  north 


I 

I 

'I 


1/ 


I, 


*  Proe.  Am.  As.«.  Ad.  Sei. 

t  Hiiyden's  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur   of  Wyoniiner. 


^'' 


90 


Cretuceons. 


'liii 

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line  to  New  Mexico,  but  on  the  Lower  Missouri,  where  it  was  first  ob- 
served by  geologists,  it  never  reaches  a  thickness  of  more  thiin  150  or 
2U0  feet.  In  New  INIexico  it  occurs  us  the  most  conspicuous  of  the 
Cretaceous  divisions,  and  along  the  line  of  the  Kansas  Pacific  Railway, 
in  Kansas,  it  has  yielded  large  quantities  of  the  most  remarkable  rep- 
tilian remains. 

The  Niobrara  Group  in  found,  in  some  form,  wherever  the  Cretaceous 
beds  occur,  from  the  north  line  to  New  3Iexico,  a.nd  probably  much 
farther.  As  it  is  developed  on  the  Lower  Missouri,  and  southward 
through  Nebraska,  Kansas,  into  Texas  and  the  Indian  Territory,  it 
contains  thick,  massive  beds  of  chalky  limestone.  On  the  Kansas 
Pacific  Railway,  at  Forts  Hays  and  Wallace,  this  limestone  is  sawed 
into  blocks  oC  any  desirable  size,  with  a  common  saw,  and  used  for 
building  purposes;  but  along  the  flanks  of  the  mountains,  or  in  the 
far  west,  it  never  reveals  its  chalk}'  character.  It  is  found  in  thin, 
slaty,  calcareous  layers,  but  universally  characterized  by  the  presence 
of  the  oyster  Osfrea  congesta,  and  also  ^ome  form  of  Inoceramiis,  or 
a  few  fish  remains,  but  the  little  oyster  is  ubiquitous.  In  these 
three  divisions  there  seems  to  be  no  well-marked  line  of  separation, 
and  the  more  we  study  them  the  more  intimately  do  they  seem  to 
be  blended  together. 

The  Fort  Pierre  Group  begins  to  overlap  the  Niobrara  Group 
below  the  mouth  of  the  Niobrara,  and  above  that  point,  although  the 
river  cuts  deep  down  into  the  chalk  limestone,  and  long  lines  of  cone- 
like blulfs  extend  up  nearly'  to  the  Great  Bend,  yet  the  distant  hills 
on  either  side  of  the  river  show  plainly  the  dark  shaly  clays  of  this 
group.  This  ^roup  covers  a  vast  area  of  country,  perhaps  5,000 
S(iuare  miles  or  more,  and  wherever  it  prevails.  It  gives  to  the  sur- 
face the  aspect  of  desolation.  The  entire  thickness  of  the  group  is 
filled  with  the  alkaline  material,  which  is  so  well  known  in  the  west, 
and  wherever  the  water  accumulates  in  little  depressions  and  evap- 
orates, the  surface  is  covered  with  a  deposit  of  the  salt  varying  from 
an  inch  to  several  inches  in  thickness.  The  water  that  flows  through 
these  clays  is  usually  impregnated  with  these  salts  and  thus  rendered 
unfit  for  use.  Although  these  claj's  seem  to  be  so  sterile,  and  in  the 
diy  season  are  typical  of  extreme  aridity,  ^-et  they  are  i)y  no  means 
destitute  of  vegetation.  The  various  species  ot  chenopodiaceons  shrubs 
and  herbs,  that  are  peculiar  to  the  west,  find  their  natural  habitat  in 
these  clays,  and  grow  most  luxuriantly.  The  Sarrohatns  reaches  its 
highest  growth  in  this  region.  The  somber  appearance  given  to  the 
country  by  the  black  cla^'s  is  unfavorable  to  it.     At  the  Great  Bend 


m 


m 


Jlesozoic  and  Crenozoic  Geology  and  PaJn;onf,oJo(/if. 


91 


there  is  a  large  thickness  of  the  strata  filled  with  concretions  that 
are  made  u])  nio>itly  of  an  agu;r(\<>ate  of  fossils,  as  Ammonites.  Bncv- 
lites,  etc.  Near  Ciiain  de  Roche  creek  these  concretions  have  been 
swept  down  into  the  Missouri  by  the  swift  curre  it,  during  the  spring 
floods,  and  in  the  low  water  of  autumn  they  present  a  picturesque 
appearance. 

Although  the  rivers  cut  deep  channels  through  the  different  forma- 
tions, we  do  not  meet  with  the  Fox  Hills  Group  along  the  Missouri, 
until  we  reaoh  nearly  up  to  the  mouth  of  Cannon  Ball  river,  yet  fifty 
miles  or  more  before  reaching  that  jjoint  it  has  overlapped  the  Fort 
Pierre  Group.  In  titiveling  across  the  plnin  country  westward  from 
Fort  Pierre,,  we  find  it  occupying  the  entire  area.  Very  soon  after  pass- 
in<r  west  of  the  Big  Cheyenne  river  the  traveler  will  readilv  recognize 
its  presence  by  the  more  cheerful  ajpearance  that  it  gives  to  the  sur- 
face, as  well  as  by  the  greatly  increased  growth  of  vegetation.  The 
water  is  pure  and  good,  and  springs  become  quite  common  in  the  hills. 

An  important  feature  in  the  geology  of  the  West  is  the  great  lake 
basins,  which  seem  to  set  in  the  older  formations  and  in  each  other 
like  dishes.  The  principal  one  is  the  Fort  Union,  or  Great  Lignitic 
Group,  which  forms  the  transition  group,  from  the  strictly  marine  con- 
dition of  the  Cretaceous  period,  to  tie  epoch  of  the  numerous  fresh- 
water lakes,  which  were  scattered  all  over  the  country  west  of  the  Mis 
sissippi.  This  group  was  called  the  Fort  Union  or  Lignitic  Group  in 
1861,*  and  supposed  to  be  of  Eocene  age. 

It  was  described  as  cons'sting  of  beds  of  clay  and  sand,  with  r(>und 
ferruginous  concretions,  and  numerous  beds,  seams  and  local  deposits 
of  lignite,  great  numbers  of  dicotyledonous  leaves,  stems,  etc,  of  the 
genera  Plnfanus,  Acer,  Ufmus,  Popiilns,  etc.,  with  very  large  leaves 
of  true  fan  palms;  also  Helix,  Melania,  Vit'ipard,  Corbicida,  Unio, 
Osfrea,  Corhula  and  scales  oi'  Lepidotus.  with  l)ones  of  Trion/x,  Emjjs, 
Compsemys,  Crocodihis,  etc;  as  occupying  the  whole  country  around 
Fort  Union,  extending  north  into  the  British  possessions  to  unknown 
distances,  southward  to  Fort  Clark,  under  the  White  River  Group  on 
North  Platte  river  above  Fore  Laramie,  aiidon  the  west  side  of  Wind 
River  mountains ;  and  as  having  a  thickness  of  2,000  feet  or  more.  The 
passage  from  the  brackish  to  the  fresh  water  beds  seems  not  to  be 
marked  by  any  material  alteration,  in  the  natnni  of  the  sediments;  nor 
have  we  any  reason  for  believing,  ihat  any  climatic  or  other  important 
physical  changes  beyond  the  slow  rising  of  the  land,  and  the  conse- 


Proe.  Aea<l.Niit.  Soi. 


I. 


92 


Cretaceous. 


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quent  recession  of  the  salt  and  brackish  water,  took  place  during  the 
deposition  of  this  group. 

Prof.  Hayden  proposed  to  call  the  strata  found  in  the  Judith  basin 
near  the  sources  of  the  Missouri  river,  consisting  of  ancient  lake  de- 
posits, and  not  differing  materially  from  those  of  the  Fort  Union  Group, 
the  Judith  Group.  It  contains  impure  beds  of  lignite,  fresh-water 
mollusca,  a  few  leaves  of  deciduous  trees  ant.  a  great  number  and 
variety  of  reptilian  remains. 

There  is  no  real  physical  break  in  the  deposition  of  the  sediments 
between  the  Avell-marked  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary  strata.  In  some 
localities  the  continuity  is  clear  and  beautiful  in  the  highest  degree. 
On  Green  river,  and  in  the  Bitter  Creek  Valley,  one  can  trace  the 
continuity  step  by  step,  so  far  as  the  strata  are  concerned,  from  the 
Cretaceous  through  the  greatest  thickness  of  cla^^s,  sands,  and  sand- 
stones of  the  Lower  Tertiary  to  the  purely  fresh  water  beds  of  Green 
river  shales,  Washakie,  or  Bridger  Groups.  In  these  localities  the 
influence  of  the  elevation  of  the  mountain  ranges  has  been  such  as  to 
expose  the  outcroping  edges  of  all  the  strata,  from  the  Cretaceous  to  the 
sands  oi  the  most  recent  Tertiary,  like  the  leaves  of  a  book.  In  the 
claj's  interspersed  among  the  coal  beds,  in  the  Bitter  Creek  vallej', 
several  species  of  oyster  shells  occur  in  seams.  At  Bear  river,  we 
have  well  defined  Cretaceous  strata  and  from  these  we  ascend,  through 
a  series  of  sandstones  and  clays,  with  an  abundance  of  shells  of  the 
genus  Ostrea  and  a  few  other  marine  forms,  resembling  Tertiary  tj-pes 
as  much  as  Cretaceous.  Soon  we  come  to  the  coal-beds,  which  at 
this  locality  are  nearl}^  A'ertical.  Above  them  we  find  seams  of  o^^ster 
shells,  but  no  other  marine  forms.  And  finally,  high  up  in  the  upper 
beds  of  the  coal  group,  we  find  the  greatest  profusion  of  brackish  and 
fresh  water  life.  The  coal  group  in  Weber  Valley,  and  at  Coalville 
is  referred  to  the  Cretaceous. 

Prof.  F.  B.  Meek*  said  that  some  of  the  specimens-  f'"om  near 
Bear  river,  and  at  Coalville,  Utah,  from  a  light-colored  sandstone 
containing  beds  of  a  good  quality  of  brown  coal,  appear  to  belong  to 
a  member  of  the  Cretaceous  series  not  corresponding  to  any  of 
those  named  in  the  Upper  Missouri  country;  though  it  is,  as  he 
believed,  represented  by  a  similar  sandstone  under  the  oldest  estuary 
Tertiary  beds  at  the  moith  of  the  Judith  river,  on  the- Upper  Mis- 
souri. In  1860,  Colonel  Simpson  brought  from  this  rock,  on  Sulphur 
Creek,  a  small  tributary  of   Bear  river,  in  Utah,  some  casts  of  In- 


Haydcn's  U.  S.  Ueo  Sur.  of  Wyoming,  etc. 


'1/ 


Mesozoic  and  Camozoic  GeoloQj  and  Paloiohtoloyy. 


93 


oceramns,  and  other  fossils,  and  in  some  remarks  on  this  collection''' 
he  referred  this  formation    to   the  Cretaceous.     The  collections  that 
have  since  been  brought  in  from  it,  in  Utah,  by  iNIr.  King's  and  Dr. 
Hayden's   surveys,    confirm    the    conclusion    that    it  belongs  to   the 
Cretaceous,  as  they  contain,  among  other  things,  species  of  Inocer- 
amiis,  Anchnra  and  Gyrodes — genera  that  seem  not  to  have  survived 
the  close  of  the  Cretaceous  period.     In  addition  to  this,  there  is  among 
Dr.  Ha3'den's  collections  from  this  rock,  at  Coalville,  a  TurriteUa  that 
he  could  not  distinguish  from  T.  martinezensis,  and  a  Modiola  which 
appeared  to  be  specifically  identical  with  31.  pedeniab's.     Dr.  Haydeu 
also  had,  from  a  little  above  the  coal  beds  at  Coalville,  specimens  of 
oyster  that  seemed  much  like  0.  I'driaensis  and  O.  breweri,  of  Gabb, 
from    the    upper    beds    of    the    California    Cretaceous.      From    tliC 
affinities  of  some  of  these  fossils  to  forms  found  in  the  latest  of  the 
beds   referred    in   California    to   the    Cretaceous,    and    the   intimate 
relations  of  these  marine  coal  bearing  strata  of^Jtah  to  the  oldest 
Tertiary  of  the  same  region,  and  the  apparent  occurrence  of  equivalent 
beds  bearing  the  same  relations  to  the  oldest  brackish-water  Tertiary 
beds  at  the  mouth  of  Judith   river  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  he  was 
inclined  to  believe  that  these  Coalville  beds  occupy  a  higher  horizon 
in  the  Cretaceous  than  even  the  Fox  Hills  beds  of  the  U))por  Missouri 
Cretaceous  series;  or,   in  other  words,  that  they  belong  to  the  closing 
or  latest  member  of  the  Cretaceous. 

AlUof  the  explorers  of  this  region  concur,  in  the  statement,  that  the 
above  mentioned  Cretaceous  beds  are  intimately  related  to  the  suc- 
ceeding brackish  water  deposits  that  appear  to  belong  to  the  oldest 
Tertiary;  the  two  formations,  wherever  they  occur  together,  being 
conformable  and  without  any  intermediate  beds,  so  that  the  one  seems 
to  shade  into  the  other,  without  any  abrupt  or  sharply-defined  line  of 
separation;  the  change  being  mainly  indicated  by  a  gradual  transi- 
tion from  beds  containing  Cretaceous  types  of  only  marine  origin, 
to  those  with  brackish  and  fresh  water  types,  apparently  most  nearly  al- 
lied to  early  Eocene  species  of  the  old  world. 

So  far  as  yet  known,  there  would  appear  to  be  no  strictly  marine 
Tertiary  deposits  in  all  this  interior  region  of  the  continent;  even  the 
lower  parts  of  the  surface  here  having  been  apparently  gradually  ele- 
vated above  the  sea  level,  at,  or  very  near,  the  close  of  the  Cretaceous 
period.  For  the  same  reason  aliof  the  beds  hitherto  referred  with  con- 
fidence to  the  Cretaceous  are  of  undoubted  marine  origin,  as  they  con- 
tain only  marine  types. 


r 
1 


'•'  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 


94 


Cretaceous, 


'  I 


■M 


;r 


If: 


fi. 


m. 


These  Cretaceous  gulfs  or  seas,  however,  evidently  tlicl  not  occupy  the 
whole  country  hero,  as  we  know  from  the  absence  of  Cretaceous  de- 
posits througliout  what  were  doubtless  wide  areas,  or  possibly,  in  some 
cases,  smaller  islands  of  dry  land  at  that  time.  As  the  whole  surface 
was  gradually  elevated,  however,  even  the  lowest  portions  rose  finally 
to  near  the  tide  level,  thus  probably  leaving  large  inlets  and  estuaries 
of  brackish  waters,  that  subsequently  became  so  far  isolated,  by  the 
continued  elevation,  and  from  sedimentar3'  deposits,  as  to  prevent  the 
influx  of  the  tides  and  form  fresh-water  lakes,  in  which  the  later  fresh- 
water and  terrestrial  types  of  fossils  only  were  deposited. 

That  this  change  from  marine  to  brackish-water  conditions  was  ex- 
actly contemporaneous  with  the  close  of  the  Cretaceous  epoch,  and  the 
introduction  of  the  Tertiary  in  Europe,  is  not  certain ;  nor  is  it  neces- 
sary that  this  should  have  been  the  case  to  constitute  the  older  rock 
Cretaceous,  and  the  later  Tertiary,  because  in  the  use  of  these  terms 
we  have  reference  /ather  to  the  order  of  succession  of  certain  great 
physical  changes,  affecting  life  in  distantly  separated  parts  of  the 
earth,  than  to  the  exact  time  of  the  occurrence  of  these  chanses. 

He  described  from  Bear  river,  near  Sulphur  creek  (now  Laramie 
Group),  Goniohasis  chrysalis. 

From  the  Dakota  Group,  twelve  miles  southwest  of  Salina,  Kansas, 
(Jrassatellina  ohlonya,  Area  parallela,  Toldia  microdonta,  Corhicula 
nucalis,  C  suhtrigonalis,  Cardium  salinaense,  G.  kansasense,  Arco- 
pagella  mactroides,  Tellina  suhscitula,  Leptosolen  conradi,  Turritella 
kansasensis,  and  Turbo  mudyeanus.  From  opposite  Sioux  City,  in 
Dakota  count}^  Nebraska,    Unio  nebrascensis. 

From  the  Fort  Pierre  Group,  near  Medicine  Bow  Station,  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  Inoceramus  alius.  From  the  Fox  Hills  Group,  at 
the  mouth  of  Deer  creek,  on  North  Platte,  in  Wyoming, 2V?^9es  loyoming- 
ensis.  From  Box  Elder  and  Colorado  City,  Colorado,  Anisomyon 
centrale. 

From  the  Fort  Benton  Group,  at  Oil  Springs,  twenty  miles  west  of 
Fort  Bridger,  Wyoi.  ing,  Cardium  pauperculum;  from  Point  of  Rocks,* 
Wyoming,  Anomia  gryphhorhynchus. 

From  Salt  Lake,  Utah,  Pachymya  truncata\  and  from  Canon  City, 
Mactra  canonensis. 

Wm.  M.  Gabbf  described,  from  Chihuahua,  Mexico,  Lima  kimbalU. 
'   Alfred  R.  C.  SelwynJ  described  the  Jackass  mountain  Conglomerate 


♦  Ilayden's  5th  Rep.  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 
t  Proc  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 
Geo  Sur.  Canada. 


Mesozoic  and  Ccbnozoic  Gcoloyy  and  Palwontology, 


95 


Group  of  British  Columbia.  It  consists  of  hard,  ciosc-j^rained  and 
tbickbedded,  greenish  sandstones  or  qusirtzites,  green  and  black  shvles 
and  above  these,  massive  thick-bedded  pebble  conglomerates,  dipping 
generall}'  at  low  angles  in  various  directions;  some  of  the  inclosed 
pebbles  are  of  rocks  belonging  to  the  Cache  creek  series.  At  Jackass 
mountain  the  road  is  built  round,  or  excavated  out  of  vertical  cliffs  of 
these  conglomerates,  at  from  800  to  900  feet  above  the  river,  into 
which  you  can  almost  drop  a  stone  from  the  parapet  of  the  road;  and 
at  a  short  distance  back  they  rise  into  hills,  not  less  than  l},000  feet 
above  the  valley,  which  they  occupy  to  within  about  five  miles  from 
Lytton.  This  group  belongs  to  the  Upper  Cretaceous,  and  is  above 
what  he  called  the  Upper  Cache  Creek  Group. 

The  road  to  Cariboo,  betweer.  Clinton  and  Lillooet,  runs  through  a 
valley  transverse  to  the  strike  of  the  rocks,  from  one  to  two  miles 
wide,  on  either  side  of  which  hills  rise  abruptly  from  1,000  to  2,000  feet. 
The  Upper  Cache  Group  was  first  observed  here  by  Mr.  James  Rich- 
ardson, the  base  of  which  he  supposed  to  be  about  two  miles  west  of 
Clinton.  The  beds  have  generally  a  high  westerly  dip.  They  consist 
of  a  great  volume  of  bluish,  dove-colored,  and  white  limestones,  often 
n  good  marble,  interstratified  with  brown  dolomitic  limestone,  red 
and  green  shale,  and  epidotic  and  chloritic  rocks,  with  others  which 
closely  resemble  rocks  of  the  Quebec  Group,  in  the  eastern  townships 
of  Canada.  These  rocks  occupy  the  country  westward  for  about  six 
miles.  On  their  strike  to  the  northward,  they  can  be  easily  traced  b}- 
the  eye,  from  the  almost  snowy  appearance  of  the  limestones  for  20  or 
30  miles;  and  in  the  opposite  direction  they  can  be  traced,  by  the  same 
characters,  for  10  to  12  miles,  to  another  transverse  narrow  valle}' called 
Marble  canon.  A  narrow,  deep  lake,  of  clear  water,  occupies  the 
bottom  of  this  canon,  the  white  cliffs  of  limestone  rising  on  either  side 
of  the  lake  to  heights  of  from  2,000  to  3,000  feet  above  the  water. 
About  half-way  up,  on  the  north  side,  the  limestone  beds  stand  up  in 
masses,  which  look  like  detached  columns  of  a  diameter  of  fjom  50  to 
100  feet,  and  from  300  to  400  feet  high,  due  to  the  unequal  weathering 
of  the  almost  vertical  strata.  The  limestones  are  succeeded  by  a  con- 
siderable thickness  of  black  shales,  sometimes  soft  and  calcareous,  but 
often  hard  and  flint3\ 

Mr.  James  Richardson*  described  numerous  sections,  in  the  Creta- 
ceous rocks  of  Vancouver  and  adjacent  islands,  showing  the  coal  seams; 
one  of  which  occurs  about  five  miles  from  the  shore  on  the  southwest 


if 


If 


"  Geo.  Sur.  Can. 


w 


06 


CreUiceous, 


I. 


I- 

fr,! 


1:1 


side  of  Coinox  harbor,  on  a  small  tributary  of  tlie  Piintlcdgo  river.     A 
(loscetuling  section  is  as  follows: 

1.  Brownish  or  drab-eoloreil,  slightly  calcareous  sandstone,  the 
grains  of  which  are  composed  of  quartz,  felilsi)ar  and  mica,  with  some 
of  a  black  substance  suijposed  to  be  peroxide  of  manganese,  the  beds 
being  from  one  to  live  feet  thick,  45  feot. 

2.  Coal,  black  and  shining,  clean  and  free  from  shale,  4  feet  6 
inchvis. 

3.  Brownish-black  argillaceous  shale,  and  greenish-brown  sand- 
stone, interstratifled  with  one  another  in  thinish  layers,  the  shale  pre- 
dominating, and  both  holding  thin  irregularly-distributed,  lenticular 
patches  of  coal,  which  may  constitute  about  one  tenth  of  the  mass,  no 
indications  of  roots  penetrating  the  upper  part  of  the  bed  were  ob- 
served, 15  feet. 

4.  Coal,  apparently  of  good  quality,  T  feet  4  inches. 

5.  Brownish-gray  or  light  drab  sandstone,  in  beds  of  from  one  foot 
to  eighteen  inches,  10  feet. 

6.  Coal,  apparently  clean  and  of  good  qualit^^  6  feet. 

7.  Brownish-gray  or  light  drab  sands^ione  interstratifled  with  thin 
layers  of  black,  soft,  argillaceous  sliale,  3  feet. 

8.  Coal,  without  observed  impurities,  10  feet. 
Total,  98  feet  10  inches. 

A  section  near  Departure  bay  shows  a  thickness  of  1,538  feet. 

Prof.  E.  D.  Cope*  described  the  Cretaceous  along  the  line  of  the 
Kansas  Pacific  Railroad,  where  it  consists  of  the  Dakota,  Benton  and 
Niobrara  Groups.  The  Dakota  Group  constitutes  the  bluffs  at  Salina, 
one  hundred  and  oighty-flve  miles  west  of  the  State  line  of  Missouri, 
and  continues  as  far  as  B^ort  Harkej.  thirty-three  oniles  farther  west. 
They  are  a  coarse,  brown  sandstone,  containing  irregular  concretions 
of  oxide  of  iron  and  numerous  mollusks  of  marine  origin.  The  Benton 
Group  appears  at  this  point,  containing  large  quantities  of  dicotyle- 
donous leaves  and  other  forms  of  land  vegetation.  It  appears  also  at 
Brookville,  eighteen  miles  east,  and  at  Bunker  Hill,  thirty-four  miles 
west  of  this  Fort.  The  Niobrara  Group  forms  the  bluffs  at  Fort  Haj's, 
seventy  miles  west  of  Fort  Harker,  and  from  this  place  to  Fort  Wal- 
lace, one  hundred  and  thirt^'-four  miles  beyond.  This  group  consists 
of  two  parts — a  lower,  of  dark  bluish  calcareo-argillaceous  character, 
often  thin-bedded;  and  an  upper,  of  yllow  and  whitish  chalk, 
much  more  heavily  bedded.  Near  Fort  Hays  the  best  section  may  be 
seen  at  a  point  eighteen  miles  north  on  the  Saline  river.     Here  the 

'-'  Ho.ydcn's  5th  Rep.  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 


tn 


'■•..J  •-•:■•■ 


Jlesosoic  (ind  Cictiozoic  tieo/oyy  and  Pnhvontoloyy. 


bliUls  rise  to  a  height  of  200  feet,  tlie  yellow  strata  constituting  the 
ii|)l)er  half.  Half  way  between  this  point  and  the  fort,  Ilnplnscaphu 
(J randis,  and  II.  ecceutrica  occur.  Some  of  them  are  twenty-seven  inches 
in  diameter.  Fragments  of  Anuijmins  occur  in  the  yellow  bed  and 
rnoceramiis  pi'oblcimiticiin  in  the  blue. 

Along  the  Smoky  Hill  river,  ;{0  miles  east  of  Fort  Wallace,  the  strata 
have  a  gentle  dip  to  the  northwest.  The  yellow  and  the  blue  strata  are 
about  e(iually  fossiliferous  and  pass  into  each  other  by  gradations  and 
by  slight  laminar  alternations  at  their  line  of  junction.  Ciino/ic/tthys 
semianceps,  Lladon  (j/andiferu.s,  and  L.  dyNpclor  occur  in  both  classes 
of  strata.  The  yellow  strata  are  remarkably  uniform  in  mineral  con- 
tents, bi't  the  blue  contain  numerous  concretions  and  great  abundance 
of  thin  layers  of  gypsi,  n  and  crystals  of  the  same.  Near  Sheridan, 
concretions  and  septaria  arc  abundant.  In  some  places  the  latter  are 
of  great  size,  and  being  imbedded  in  the  strata  have  suffered  denuda- 
tion of  their  contents,  and  the  septa  standing  out  form  a  huge  honey- 
comb. This  region,  and  the  neighborhood  of  Eagle  Tail,  Colorado, 
are  noted  for  the  beauty  of  their  gypsum  crj'stals.  These  are  hex- 
agonal-radiate, each  division  being  a  pinnate  or  feather-shaped  lamina 
of  twin  rows  of  crystals.  The  clearness  of  the  mineral  and  the  regular 
leaf  and  feather  forms  of  the  crystals  give  them  much  beauty.  The 
yellow  bed  disappears  to  the  southwest,  west,  and  northwest  of  Fort 
Wallace,  beneath  a  sandy  conglomerate  of  Tertiary  age. 

He  described,  from  the  Fort  Benton  Group,  at  Bunker  Hill  station, 
Kansas,  Apsopehx  sauri/ormis. 

He  described,  from  the  Niobrara  Group,  neai-  P^agle  Tail  in  Colorado, 
Liodon  crnssnrtus,  now  Platecarpiis  crassartus;  from  Kansas,* 
Ornithochirns  harpyia,  O.  umbrosics;  from  near  Butte  creek,  Cyiiocer- 
CHS  incisus;  from  Sheridan,  Plesiosaut'us  gv,lo.\ 

He  determined;!;  the  Upper  Cretaceous  age  of  the  Lignitic  strata  of  the 
Bitter  Creek  Basin  of  Wyoming,  and  described,  from  near  Black  Butter, 
station,  on  the  U.  P.  R.  R.,  52  miles  east  of  Green  river,  and  near  the 
Hallville  coal  mines,  Ayathaumas  sylvestris.  This  dinosaurian  was 
discovered  between  the  thinner  or  lower  strata  of  the  Bitter  creek 
series  of  coal,  which  at  this  point  occupy  a  position  of  elevation  anil 
crop  out  high  on  the  bluffs.  Two  strata  appear  above  the  sandstone 
in  which  the  bones  occur,  and  one  below  it. 


/  ;. 


<'  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 

t  Proc  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 

t  Pal.  Bull.  No.  4  and  No.  10,  and  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 


m^n 


J)S 


CrcfaocoiiH. 


Prof.  0.  C.  Miirsh*  dcscrihod,  from  Smoky  Ilill  rlvor,  in  Western 
Kansas,  rterodoctiilns  ondifetiffi/is,  P.  veiny,  P.  fiiffcns,  Gmciilnvus 
iinceps,  IIcHpcvnnns  )'Cf/nfis,  LasfosaurKs  simns,  now  Phtfecnrpnn  nituKs, 
L.  fcllx,  now  P.  J'eh'x,  L.  Uitifronn,  now  /'.  lotifrons,  L.  grarj/is, 
now  P.  (irncllis,  Rhinos/titrits  micromus,  now  Lindon  mieromnn, 
Edcstosaurun  rc.i',  now  CJli'dastes  rex,  Tchthjiornix  dixjxtr,  Volono- 
srturiis  miulffei,  now  Tchthyornis  dispar;  and  from  t'ne  jfi'oonsand  at 
Horncrstown,  New  Jersey,  (ivacuUtvna  velox,  Grnciilaviis  pumiUis,  and 
Pnla'jitn'nijd  vnt/fms. 

Dr.  Joseph  Leidyf  described,  from  Texas,  Ofodiis  divnricatiis;  from 
Kansas,  Oxyrhina  exfenfa;  from  New  Jersey,  Acrodus  humilfs;  and 
from  Mississippi,  Pycnodus  fabn. 

F.  B.  Meek  and  J.  II.  KIoos*  found  the  lionton  Group  underlying 
the  drift  gravel  and  clay  in  the  Sauk  valley,  in  Minnesota. 

T.  A  Conrad,!^  described,  from  the  Yellow  Chalk,  near  the  Saline 
river,  Kansas,  Haploxcnpha  f/randis,  and  //.  excetitvicn. 

And  Prof.  Loo.  LesqiKM'oux  described,  from  the  hard  ferruginous 
sandstone  of  the  Dakota  Group,  in  Kansas,  Pterospermites  qundrottis, 
now  Pterophylhnn  quadrntum,  Pterofpermites  multinervis,  now  Ptcro- 
phyllinn  multinerve,  Pterospermites  haydeni,  now  Pterophyllum  hay- 
deni,  3IaffnoUa  ensffolia,  now  CehtstropJtyllHm  ensifoUum,  Quercvs 
mi<d(fei,  now  Prn^ophyUum,  mudgei^  Aralia  quinquepcirtita,  Phttanus 
Iieeri,  and  Sassafras  obtnsus^  now  Cissites  obtusus.  From  the  reddish, 
ferruginous,  hard  shale  of  the  Laramie  Group,  below  the  Coal  at 
Evanston,  Utali,  Qitercus  negimdoides,  Jietula  stevensoiii,  Phus  evansi, 
Juglans  rhamnoides;  from  a  grayish,  fine-grained,  hard  shale  on  the 
divide  between  the  source  of  Snake  river  and  the  southern  shore  of 
Yellowstone  lake,  Gymnogramma  haydeni;  and  from  six  miles  above 
Spring  canon,  anl  top  of  hills  between  Fort  Ellis  and  Botteler's  ranch, 
Colorado,  Myrica  ambigua,  Quercus  ellisana,  and  Q.  pealei. 

In  1873,  Prof.  Leo  Lesquereux||  described  the  Lignitic  Group,  from 
the  Raton  mountains,  northward  to  Denver  and  Cheyenne,  and  then 
along  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  to  Evanston.  In  passing  obliquely 
from  the  town  of  Trinidad  to  the  Raton  valley,  in  a  northwest  direction, 
the  stage-road  gently  ascends  about  150  feet  to  a  plateau  which,  at  the 
surface,  consists  of  the  black   shale  of  the  Fort  Pierre  Group,  and 


*  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  3d  ser.,  vol.  3  and  4. 
t  I'roc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 
X  Am.  Jour  Sci.  and  Arts,  3d  ser.,  vol-  3. 
g  5th  Rop.  Hayden's  U.  S.  <ioo.  Sur.  Terr. 
I  Hayden's  6th  Rep.  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 


Mcsozoic  and  Conozoia  Qcoloyy  (ind  Pdlaotifoloijij, 


1)'.» 


contains  well  prcwoi'voil,  liii'^o,  chanictiMiHtic  sliells  in  reiru^inoiiH  con- 
i'fotiony,  Hut  soon  the  plain  appears  cut  by  undulations  wliiiii 
already,  one  mile  from  Trinidad,  have  their  tops  strewn  with  largi- 
broken  Hags  o**  sandstone,  over  which  no  other  trace  of  fossil  renuiins, 
but  marine  plants  or  fucoids  are  seen.  A  little  farther  from  the  town, 
the  same  sandstone  is  in  place,  immediately  and  conformably  over- 
lying the  black  shale;  and  in  entering  the  snudl  valley  of  the  Raton, 
the  road  curves  around  steep  hills,  whose  base  rests  upon  the  fucoidal 
sandstone,  and  whose  sides,  exposed  l)y  denudation,  are  blackened  by 
outcrops  of  coal  atdilferent  altitudes.  A  section,  along  a  small  bi-anch, 
in  whoso  banks  the  lignite-beds  appear  in  succession  ilown  to  Raton 
creek,  and  then  down  this  creek  to  Purgatory  river,  where  the  Fort 
Pierre  Group  is  exposed,  shows  the  lignitic  IJOO.^  feet,  succeeded  by 
178  feet  of  sandstone.     The  characters  of  the  sandstone  are  as  follows: 

Firnt. — Its  general  color  is  whitish-gray,  so  white  indeed,  some- 
times, that  the  lower  strata,  seen  from  a  distance,  appear  like  banks 
of  limestone. 

Second. — Though  generally  hard,  it  weathers  by  exfoliation  under 
atmospheric  influences,  and  its  banks  are  thus  molded  in  round  undu- 
lations; and  as  it  is  locally  hardened  by  ferruginous  infiltrations,  it  is 
often  too  concretionary  or  grooved  in  cavities,  so  diversified  in  size  and 
forms,  that  sometimes  the  face  of  the  cliffs  shows  like  the  details  oi  a 
complicated  architecture. 

Third. — It  is  entirely  barren  of  remains  of  animals. 

Fourth. — From  its  lowest  stratum  to  its  upper  part,  it  abounds  in 
well-preserved  remains  of  marine  plants  or  fucoids,  which,  at  some 
localities,  are  seen  even  in  the  sandstone  ovf "  lignite-beds. 

Fifth. — In  its  upper  part,  the  sandstone  or  the  shales  of  this  group 
are  mixed  with  broken  debris  of  land -vegetation,  with  which  also 
fucoidal  remains  are  found  more  and  more  abundant  in  descending. 

In  passing  from  the  black  shale  of  the  Fort  Pierre  Group  to  this 
group  of  sandstone  beds  overlaying  it,  the  difference  in  the  characters 
is  striking,  not  only  in  considering  their  compounds,  but  in  the  class 
of  fossil  remains  which  they  contain,  the  traces  of  deep  marine  animal- 
life  predominating  in  the  black  shale,  while  here  they  have  totally  dU> 
appeared.  In  the  sandstone,  marine  life  still  marks  its  activity  onl}- 
by  the  abundant  remains  of  fucoids,  indicating,  by  their  growth,  a  com- 
paratively shallow  water.  They  point  out,  therefore,  a  slow  upheaval  of 
the  bottom  of  the  sea  in  which  they  appear  to  have  lived;  for  their  stems 
penetrate  the  sandstone  in  every  direction.  And  this  indication  is 
still  more  manifest  in  the  great  abundance  of  debris  of  land-plants. 


•  I 


100 


Cretaceous. 


.(,(  i 


•I 

J'  i 

;      1 


I     .1 


pi 

!l.  i 


wl 


wliicli  seem  as  if  ground  by  the  waves,  thrown  upon  the  shore  and  mixed 
in  the  sand  with  fucoidal  remains.  Tiiat  this  sj*  idstone  forms  all 
over  and  around  the  Raton  mountains,  the  oase  of  what  is  called  the 
Lignitic  Group,  and  that  it  overlies  the  1)lack  shale  of  the  Fort  Pierre 
Group,  has  been  remarked  by  all  tlie  geologists  who  have  explored  the 
country.  Dr.  Lecontc,  considering  tiie  strata  as  Crelaceons,  mentions 
them  in  his  report  as  continuing  southward  of  the  Raton,  along  *!ie 
liase  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  forming  -"u  immense  terrace,  wl.ieh 
extends  as  far  south  as  the  valley  of  the  Tonejo,  and  perhaps  even  to 
the  north  bank  of  the  Cimarron.  From  this  place  northward  to  the 
base  of  the  Spanish  Peak,  these  sandstone  beds,  always  with  !,he  same 
characters  and  superimposed  upon  the  Fort  Pierre  Group,  form  an  im- 
mense terrace,  perpendicularly  cut,  like  a  wall  facing  east,  high  above 
the  plain.  They  support  the  lignitic  beds  which  still  tower  above 
them,  either  ascending  in  steep  declivities  from  the  top  of  the  perpen- 
dicular sandstone,  or  receding  at  some  distance,  where  they  have  been 
more  deeply  sapped  by  erosion.  Tnis  abrupt  front,  says  Dr.  Hayden, 
seems  to  form  a  sort  of  shore-line  of  a  wonderful  basin,  as  if  a  body 
of  water  had  swept  along  and  washed  against  the  high  bluffs,  as  along 
some  large  river.  The  stage-road  from  Trinidad  to  Pueblo  follows 
.the  base  of  these  cliffs  for  thirtj'-two  miles.  South  of  Trinidad,  the 
lignitic  measures  have  been  followed  nearly  without  interruption  to 
the  Maxwell  estate,  about  fifty  miles.  The  area  which  they  cover,  at 
and  around  the  Raton  mountains,  may  be  estimated  :  t  600  to  800 
square  miles.  The  same  formation  is  reported  farther  south,  near  and 
around  Santa  Fe;  in  the  Gallisteo  valley;  along  the  mountains  to 
Albuquerque,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  as  far  south  as 
Fort  Craig.  Everywhere,  with  a  single  exception,  these  Lignitic 
measures  have  exposed,  hy  their  relative  position,  by  the  absence  of 
animal  remains  in  the  thick  beds  of  sandstone,  which  indicate  their 
base  and  constitute  their  foundation,  by  the  homology  of  their  marine 
and  land  flora,  as  recognized  in  the  remains  of  fossil-plants  Avhich 
they  contain  in  abundance,  all  the  characters  authorizing  the  separa- 
tion of  this  group  from  the  Cretaceous  formation. 

From  Pueblo  to  Canon  City,  fortj^-five  miles,  the  stage-road  follows 
a  broad  valley-,  closed  on  the  south  side  by  the  Greenhorn  mountains 
on  the  north  side  by  the  Rim  Range  of  the  Colorado  mountains,  over 
which  towers  Pike's  Peak,  whose  summit  is  visible  all  the  time.  The 
whole  valley  is  essentially  Cretaceous;  all  the  eminences,  either  near 
the  borders  or  in  the  middle,  are  hills  of  this  formation,  molded  by  the 
erosions  of  the  Arkansas  river,  which  has  dug  numerous  beds  in  this 


if 


Mesozoic  and  Camozoic  Geology  and  Pala'outology.         101 


soft  material.     The  borders  of  its  [present  bed,  like  those  of  its  old 
ones,  where  the  road  sometimes  meanders,  as  in   a  labyrinth,  arc  pic- 
turesquely marked  by  rocks  of  diversified  forms,   resembling  monu- 
ments built  by  the  hand  of  man,  towers,  columns,  ruins,  etc.,  often 
strovvn  around  in  confusion.     On  the  south  side  of  the  river,  however, 
about  fifteen  miles  before   reaching  Canon  City,    the  aspect  of  the 
country  is  modified  by  the  appearance  of  a  group  of  hills  of  the  Lig- 
nitic,  filling  the  space  from  the  base  of  the  Greenhorn  mountains  to 
the  borders  of  the  river,  three  to  four  miles  in  width.     The  whole  area 
covered  here  by  the  Lignitic  is  about  3.3  square   miles.     The  lower 
strata,  overlying  the  sandstone,  rise  abruptl}^  about  50  feet  above  the 
Arkansas  river,  forming  a  kind  of  narrow  plateau,  over  which  the  hills 
of  the  upper  Lignitic  rise  up  to  about  500  feet.     The  whole  thickness 
of  the  lignite  bearing  strata  is  estimated  at  about  600  feet.     The  lower 
sandrock,  about  200  feet  thick,  is  the  equivalent  of  the  lower  fucoidal 
sandstone  of  the  Lignitic  of  the  Rat'n  mountains,  and  it  graduates 
into  the  Lignitic  above.     Indeed,   in   some  places  the  lower  sandstone 
includes  in  its  divisions  beds  of  lignite  to  its  ha^e. 

From  Pueblo  northward  no  trace  of  the  Lignitic  is  seen  along  the 
mountains  till  near  the  southern  base  of  a  range  of  hills,  the  Colorado 
pinery,  which,  in  its  eastern  course,  at  right  angles  from  the  primitive 
mountains,  forms  the  divide  of  the  waters  between  the  Arkansas  and 
the  Platte  rivers. 

The  succession  of  the  Cretaceous  strata  is  clearly  marked  on  the 
banks  of  Monument  creek.  In  following  it  up  from  Colorado  Springs, 
the  formation  can  be  studied  to  the  top  of  the  black  shale  of  the 
Fort  Pierre  Group,  and  above  this  to  a  bed  of  brownish  sandstone, 
separated  from  the  black  shale  by  thin  layers  of  Tuten  clay  and 
soapstone,  where  tlie  last  remains  of  Cretaceous  animals,  especially 
frasments  of  liacnlites,  are  still  abundant.  Over  this  is  the  sand- 
stone,  barren  of  any  kind  of  remains,  overlaid  in  the  banks  of  the 
creek,  by  a  bed  of  fire-clay,  or  very  soft  chocolate-colored  shale,  which 
marks  the  base  of  the  following  section  at  low-water  level  of  the 
creek : 

1.  Brown,  laminated  fire-clay,  or  chocolate-colored  soft  shale,  a 
compound  of  remains  of  rootlets,  and  leaves  and  branches  of  unde- 
terminable conifers,  2  feet. 

2.  Coal,  soft,  disaggregating  under  atmospheric  influence,    2  feet. 

3.  Chocolate-colored  clay  shale,  like  No.  1,  with  a  still  greater 
proportion  of  vegetable  debris,  6  feet. 

4.  Soft,  yellowish,  coarse  sandstone  in  bank,  8  feet. 


I, 

i 


102 


Cretaceous. 


\\   i' 
It 


('\  I 


5.  Cluy,  shale  and  shal}'  sandstone  covered  slope,  130  feet. 

6.  Soft,  laminated  clay,  interlaid  by  bands  of  limonite  iron,  thin 
lignite  seams,  and  fossil-wood,  88  feet. 

7.  Lignitic  black  clay,  in  banks,  32  feet. 

8.  Fine-grained  conglomerate,  112  feet. 

9.  Fine-grained  sandstone,  4  feet. 

10.  Coarse  conglomei'ate,  7  feet. 

11.  Sandstone,  3  feet. 

12.  Ferruginous  hard  conglomorate,  32  feet. 
Total,  426  feet. 

The  soft  chocolate-colored,  laminated  clay,  Nos.  1  and  3  of  this  sec- 
tion, has  the  same  composition,  color,  and  characters  as  the  clay  under 
and  above  the  coal-beds  of  the  Raton  mountains  and  of  the  Arkansas 
valley.  It  is  the  same,  more  or  less  darkly  colored  by  bitumen,  which 
prevails  over  the  whole  area  of  the  Llgnitic.  '  This  day  takes  the 
place  of  the  fire-clay  so  generally'  underlying  the  coal-beds  of  the  car- 
boniferous measures,  where,  as  in  the  Lignitic,  it  forms,  beside  the 
floor,  some  bands,  clay  partings,  separating  cool  strata,  and  soft  shale 
overlying  them.  The  dicotyledonous  leaves,  specifically  identical  with 
those  found  at  Raton  mountain  and  in  the  Arkansas  valley,  1.?ave  no 
doubt  about  the  cotemporanelty  of  these  Lignitic  measures. 

B}'  far  the  most  interesting  member  of  this  section  is  the  conglomer- 
ate at  the  top.  This  is  a  compound  of  small  grain'*  or  pebbles,  mostly 
of  white  quartz,  and  ofsilex  of  various  colors,  varying  in  size,  at  least 
for  the  largest  proportion,  from  that  of  a  pea  to  that  of  the  head  of  a 
pin.  Pebbles  as  large  as  a  walnut  are  abundant.  This  formation.  150  feet 
thick,  at  least,  is  conformable  to  the  strata  overlying  the  coal  of  the  base 
of  the  section,  and  here,  as  it  Avill  be  seen  at  other  places,  it  over- 
lies immediately  thick  banks  of  soft,  laminated,  bituminous,  bl.ick  clay. 
The  materials  forming  this  conglomerate  are  cemented  together  by  a 
thin  coating  of  carbonate  of  lime,  which  easily  disaggregates  under  at- 
mospheric influence,  except  in  the  upper  stratum,  where  the  cement 
has  beeii  hardened  bj^  ferruginous  infiltration.  Its  greater  resistance 
has  then  locally  preserved  the  whole  mass  from  destruction.  These 
conglomerate  cliff's,  which,  from  the  hotel  of  Colorado  springs,  arrest 
the  view  to  the  west,  appearing  like  high  blufts  of  white  sandstone,  are 
evidently  the  mere  vestiges  of  an  extensive  formation,  originally  cover- 
ing the  base  of  the  mountains  from  the  Arkansas  river,  extending' far 
inland  to  the  east.  For  hundreds  of  miles  the  ground  of  Colorado  is 
formed  by  its  debris.  They  have  given  to  the  soil,  that  apparent  sterility 
of  surface,  which  is  so  remarkably  changed  into  fertility,  by  the  culture 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geology  and  Palceonfolof/y. 


103 


of  the  substratum  composed  of  softer-grained  materials  and  lime. 
Nearer  to  and  along  the  base  of  the  Colorado  pinery,  whose  lignitic 
hills  have  escaped  destruction,  by  the  upheaval  of  the  ridge,  these  cour 
glomerates,  still  detached  from  the  common  mass,  and  molded  into  the 
most  diversified  forn.s  by  disintegration,  have  scattered  columns,  pin- 
nacles, round  towers,  and  cupolas  over  a  wide  area,  the  far-famed 
Monument  l*ark. 

From  the  mouth  of  Bear  creek  into  the  Platte,  a  few  miles  west  of 
Denver,  the  Lignitic  formation  abutting  against  the  Cretaceous  and 
diversely  thrown  up  b}'  the  upheaval  of  the  primitive  mountains,  fol- 
lows the  base  of  these  mountains  in  a  nearly  continuous  belt  to  Chey- 
enne. Though  generally  covered  by  detritus,  the  basin  is  deeply  cut 
by  all  the  creeks  descending  to  the  plain — Clear,  Ralston,  Coal,  Erie, 
Boulder,  Thompson  <!reok  and  others,  and  the  strata  thus  exposed. 
Golden  is  on  the  ba'.dcs  of  Clear  creek,  at  its  outlet  from  a  deep  canon, 
and  in  the  middUf  of  a  narrow  valley,  shut  up,  on  the  west,  by  the 
slopes  of  the  primitive  rocks,  and  on  the  east  by  a  high  wall,  a  trap- 
dike,  which  here  follows  the  same  trend  as  that  of  the  mountain  at  a 
distance  of  one  to  one  and  one-half  miles.  As  it  is  generally  the  case 
along  the  eastern  base  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  the  more  recent  for- 
mations have  been  thrown  up  and  forward,  and  their  edges  upraised  to 
a  certain  degree  nearest  to  the  uplift,  and  thus  succeeding  each  other 
by  hog-backs  facing  the  mountains,  they  pass  toward  the  plains  in 
diminished  degrees  of  dip  and  soon  take  their  horizontal  position. 

At  Golden,  the  lignitic  strata,  compressed,  as  they  are,  between  two 
walls  of  eruptive  rocks,  have  been  forced  up  on  the  wes<-ern  side,  in  a 
nearly  perpendicular  position,  while  on  the  other  the}'  were  thrown  up, 
at  the  same  time,  by  the  basaltic  dike,  and  thus  folded  or  doubled 
against  their  faces,  in  the  same  wa}^,  as  the  measures  of  the  anthracite 
basin  of  Pennsylvania  have  been  so  often  compressed  in  multiple  folds 
between  the  chains  of  the  Allegheny  mountains.  In  that  wa^-  the 
lowest  strata  of  the  Lignitic,  which  are  nearly  perpendicular,  overlie 
the  upper  Cretaceous  strata,  v.iiich,  following  the  slope  of  the  moun- 
tain's plunge,  incline  in  a  less  degree.  The  line  of  superposition  of 
both  formations  is  seen  along  a  ditch  opened  for  a  canal  of 
irrigation,  about  two  hundred  feet  from  the  tunnels,  made  in  a  bank  of 
clay  which  underlies  the  lower  lignite  bed,  and  which  is  worked  for 
potter}'.  These  upper  Cretaceous  strata  are  seen  in  the  same  position, 
and  exactly  of  the  same  nature  as  at  Gehrung's;  thin  beds  of  soap- 
stone  or  Inminated  clay,  with  Cretaceous  fossils,  and  above  them  the 
same  kind  of  Tuten-clay,  a  few  inches  thick,  under  the  lower   sand- 


It. 


104 


Cretaceous. 


"'  \ 


stone  of  the  Lignitie,  which  is  there  covered.  The  surface  of 
the  ridge  formed  by  the  upthrow  is  pierced  by  the  edge 
of  the  perpendicuhir  strata,  especiall}'  of  the  hard  sandstone, 
and  there  the  characters  of  the  lowest  beds  are  recognized  at 
manj^  places  as  the  sams  as  those  of  the  fucoidal  sandstone  of  the 
Raton  mountains.  At  the  cut  made  across  the  measures  by  Clear 
creek,  the  lower  sandstone  appears  proportionally  thin,  10  to  20  feet. 
It  is  a  white,  soft-grained  sandstone,  hardened  by  metamorphism,  con- 
taining, beside  remains  of  dicotyledonous  leaves,  some  species  of 
finely  preserved  fucoids.  In  following  the  same  sandstone  to  the  south 
it  is  seen  increasing  in  thickness,  and  near  and  under  the  Roe  coal, 
five  miles  from  Golden,  it  forms  a  high,  isolated  ridge,  at  least  200  feet 
thick,  barren  of  anj^  kind  of  remains,  except  some  fucoids. 

By  its  compound,  the  alternance  of  its  coarse-grained  and  soft- 
grained  strata,  these  being  often  mere  clay  or  mud  beds,  its  characters 
appear  the  same  as  those  of  the  lower  lignitie  sandstone  of  the  Raton 
mountains.  It  has,  too,  broken,  undeterminable  fragments  of  wood, 
C3'perace9e,  etc.  Beside  the  species  of  fossil  dicot3'ledonous  leaves 
found  in  the  white  sandstone  of  Golden,  most  of  them  homologous,  or 
even  identical  with  some  species  of  the  Raton  and  other  localities, 
it  has  one  of  those  very  rare  land  plants,  which  has  been  described  and 
recognized  in  Europe  as  pertaining,  as  yet,  exclusively  to  the  Eocene. 

The  tiuest  and  best  preserved  specimens  of  fossil  leaves  that  have 
ever  been  found  in  this  countr^^  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of 
those  of  Black  Butte,  have  been  found  at  and  around  Golden,  in  the 
hard  metamorphosed  white  sandstone,  under  and  interlying  thfe  beds 
of  coal,  and  in  the  beds  of  white  clay  upheaved  against  the  sides  of  the 
basaltic  dike;  a  clay,  hard  as  siiex  from  metamorphism,  having  mostly 
remains  of  palm  leaves;  and  from  three  miles  south  of  Golden,  from 
a  sandstone  still  upheaved,  near  the  tail  of  the  dike,  but  scarcely 
changed  by  heat,  and  easily  cut  in  large  pieces.  The  continuity-  of 
the  Lignitie  formation  is  traced  north  toward  Chej'enne,  where  the 
conoflomerate  sandstone  covers  the  face  of  the  countrv,  and  all  the 
facts  discovered,  tend  to  confirm  the  statement  made  by  Dr.  Hayden 
in  1868,  that  all  the  lignite  Tortiarj*  beds  of  the  West  are  but  frag- 
ments of  one  great  basin,  interrupted  here  and  there  by  upheaval  of 
mountain  chains,  or  concealed  by  the  deposition  of  newer  formations. 

At  Medicine  Bow,  the  line  of  connection  with  the  underlying  Cre- 
taceous is,  perhaps,  more  difficult  to  fix  than  at  other  localities,  the 
fucoidal  sandstone  here  being  mostly  barren  of  remains  of  marine 
plants.     But  from  its  base  to  its  top,  in  a  thickness  of,  perhaps,  200 


(.    i 


Mesozoic  (Old  Ccenozoic  Geology  and   Pnloiontoloyy,         105 


feet,  it  is  barren,  too,  of  an}'  remains  of  animals,  while  here  and  there 
branches  of  fucoids  appear,  as  thrown  by  the  waves,  being  generally 
mixed  with  fragments  of  wood  and  stems  of  dicotyledonous  plants. 
From  the  cut  of  tlie  railroad  west  of  Medicine  Bow,  where  this  sand- 
stone is  seen  overlying  tlie  Cretaceous,  and  where  two  fine  mineral 
springs  come  out  from  its  base,  it  is  continuous  to  Carbon,  in  repeated 
and  deeper  undulations,  forming  basins,  which  at  this  place  and 
around  contain  the  upper  Ligniti(!  formation,  with  remarkably  thick 
beds  of  combustible  mineral.  The  coal  is  mined  at  Carbon  Station  by 
a  shaft  descending  through  the  following  strata: 

1.  Shale,  cla}',  and  sandstone  at  top,  35  feet. 

2.  Ferruginous  shale,  with  dicotyledonous  leaves,  3  feet. 

3.  Clay,  shale,  and  sandstone,  with  plants  at  top,  18  feet. 

4.  Coal  (main),  9  feet. 

5.  Fire-clay  and  shale,  with  dicotj'ledonous  plants,  20  feet. 

6.  Coal,  4  feet. 

7.  Fire-clay  and  shale,  8  feet. 

8.  Coal,  4  feet. 
Total,  101  feet. 

In  following  the  railroad  from  Black  Butte  westward,  the  Lignitic 
format'on,  already  seen  at  the  surface  of  the  country  from  below  Bitter 
Creek  Station,  forms  an  irregularly  broken  ridge,  whose  general  dip 
toward  ti  <».  east  is  varied  by  low  undulations.  In  that  way  the  meas- 
ures slowly  ascend  to  Point  of  Rocks,  where  they  ovei'lie  the  black 
shale  of  the  Fort  Pierre  Group,  there  constituting  the  axis  of  an  an- 
ticlinal, which  is  cut  below  Point  of  Rocks,  by  the  meanders  of  Bitter 
creek.  The  counterfaco  of  the  axis  appears  westward,  in  correspond- 
ing strata,  after  paf^sing  Saltwell  vallc}',  and  hence  the  dip  to  the 
west  brings  to  the  surface  the  upper  strata  of  the  Lignitic  at  Rock 
Spring.  The  section  of  the  measures  is  perfectly  clear  and  exposed 
in  its  whole  length.  At  Point  of  Rocks,  and  near  the  highest  part  of 
the  anticlinal  axis,  the  Cretaceous-strata  are  exposed  80  feet  in  thick- 
ness, immediately  and  conformabl}-  overlaid  by  185  feet  of  the  Lig- 
nitic sandstone,  which,  from  its  base,  boars  fucoidal  remains.  It  has, 
moreover,  the  composition  and  mode  of  disintegration  of  the  same  for- 
mation at  Raton,  east  of  the  station,  25  feet  above  the  base  of  this 
sandstone,  there  is  a  bed  of  coal  8  feet  thick.  Farther  east,  at  Hall- 
ville,  a  Lignitic  bed,  overlaid  by  shales  where  are  imbedded  a  quantity 
of  fossil  shells,  is  worked  near  the  level  of  the  valley  at  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  railroad.  At  Black  Buttes  a  bed  of  lignite  is  worked, 
'00,  above  the  sandstone.     At  Rock  Spring,  in  boring  for  an  artesian 


106: 


Cretaceous. 


|:  I 


i  ,    i 


h.  I, 


I  I 


well,  16  beds  of  coal  making- 48  feet  in  thickness  were  passed  at  28 
feet,  and  at  1,180  feet  the  sandstone  of  the  Lower  Lignitic  had  not 
been  pierced.  He  found  a  remarkable  analoj^y,  not  to  say  identity, 
between  the  547  feet  of  measures  above  the  lij^nite  beds  at  P^vanston 
and  the  conglomerate  which  tops  the  Lignitic  at  Colorado  Springs  and 
other  places. 

The  masterly  review  of  the  Lignitic  Group,  by  Prof,  Lesquereux, 
lead  him  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  of  Pikjcene  age.  He  said  that  the 
Uppor  Cretaceous  is  positively  characterized  as  a  deep  marine  forma- 
tion. Immediately  over  it,  the  sandstone  shows,  in  its  remains,  the 
result  of  the  upheaval  of  a  wide  surface  exposed  to  shallow  marine 
action,  as  indicated  by  fucoidal  life.  The  upheaval  continuing,  this 
area  i&  brought  out  of  marine  influence  to  be  ex^wsed  to  that  of  the 
atmosphere.  It  is  a  new  land,  cut  in  basins  of  various  sizes,  where 
fresh  water  is  by  and  by  substituted  to  brine,  where  vegetable  life 
of  another  character  appears,  where  swamps  are  filling  with  clay  and 
floating  plants,  where  peat-bogs  in  their  growth  form  deposits  of  com- 
bustible matter,  etc.  To  sup[K)se  tb'^t  the  mprine  action  is  totally 
banish  kI  fnun  such  a  land  would  demand  the  absurd  admission  of  an 
absolutely  flat  surface.  Of  course  estuaries  [wnetrate  into  it  at  many 
places;  their  waters  feeding  marine  s[)ecies,  brackish  shells;  their 
bayous  inhabited  by  Saurians,  and  their  remains  mixed  with  leaves 
of  the  trees  growing  on  the  borders  and  preserved  together  in  a  fossi: 
s-tate,  w'ithout  impairing  the  true  character  of  the  formation  by  what 
palaeontology  considers  as  types  of  different  ages.  The  surface  of  the 
Eocene  sandstone,  before  its  separation  from  marine  influence,  was,  of 
course,  uncA'en.  This  sandstone  has,  therefore,  the  general  characters 
of  the  Eocene,  while  in  some  troughs,  Cretaceous  species,  still  living- 
in  deep  water,  may  have  left  their  remains  in  the  sand.  Even  if  these 
remains  were  numerous,  their  presence  does  not  change  the  a^^e  of  the 
formation.  But  on  this  subject,  and  in  comparing  our  Eocene  sand- 
stone to  the  other  groups  established  by  geol.>g_v,  we  find,  in  its  abrupt 
and  permanent  separation  from  the  Cretaceous,  its  lithological  com- 
pounds, its  total  barrenness  from  animal  remains,  at  least  generallj*, 
and  the  homogeneity  of  its  flora,  reliable  and  constant  characters 
better  defined  than  in  an}'  geological  division  admitted  by  science. 
This  sandstone  formation  is  inexplicable.  It  can  be  compared  to 
nothing  but  the  millstone-grit  of  the  Carboniferous  epoch.  How 
to  explain  why,  at  once,  animal  life  seems  to  disappear  from  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  to  be  superseded  by  marine  vegetation?  May  this 
change  have  been  caused,  perhaps,  by  a  rapid  increase  of  temperature 


(esozoic  and  Cainozoic   Geology  and  Paloiontology.         107 


of  the  water  brought  up  b}'  the  force  acting  to  the  upraising  of  the 
bottom  into  land,  and  afterward  into  chains  of  mountains.  Tiiough  it 
may  be,  this  change  is  evident  and  proves  the  geological  discrimina- 
tion of  the  Eocene  sandstone  from  the  Cretaceous,  a  separation  the 
more  remarkable,  that  from  numerous  observations  this  sandstone  is 
i-eported  constantly  conformable  to  the  Upper  Cretaceous  beds.  As 
Dr.  Ha^'den  remarks  in  his  description  of  the  Lignitic  Group  of 
Nebraska,  when  we  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  wherever  tliis  forma- 
tion has  been  seen  in  contact  witii  the  latest  Cretaceous  beds,  the  two 
have  been  found  to  be  conformable,  however  great  the  upheavals  and 
distortions  may  be,  while  at  the  junction  there  seems  to  be  a  complete 
mingling  of  sediments,  one  is  strongly  impressed  with  the  probability 
that  no  important  member  of  cither  system  is  wanting  between   them. 

After  contrasting  the  distribution  and  character  of  tiio  plants  with 
those  known  from  the  Tertiary  of  other  parts  of  the  world.  Prof.  Les- 
quereux  thought  himself  authorized  to  deduce  the  conclusion: 
That  the  great  Lignitic  Group  must  be  considered  as  a  whole  and 
well  characterized  formation,  limited  at  its  base  by  the  fucoidal  sand- 
stone, at  its  top  by  the  conglomerate  beds;  that.  Independent  from  the 
Cretaceous  under  it,  and  from  the  Miocene  above  it,  our  Lignitic  f o  - 
mations  represent  the  American  Eocene. 

He  described,  from  South  Park,  near  Costello's  ranch,  Ophioglossum 
nlleni,  now  Salviaia  alleni,  Planera  long/folia;  from  Elko  station, 
Nevada,  Sequoia  angusfffolia,  Thujti  garmdnl,  Abies  nevadensis;  from 
the  Raton  mountains,  Sphairia  lapidea^  Chondrites  subsimplex,  C.  bul- 
bosiis,  Halgmenifes  major,  IT.striatns,  Delesseria  iiicrasscta,. now  Cau- 
lerpifes  incrassatns,  Delesseria  lingulata;  from  Gohiung's  coal-bed, 
near  Colorado  Springs,  7)om6e//o/),v/«  o6^<6s'r<;  from  Golden  Cit}-,  Col- 
orado, Sclerotium  rubelliun,  Delesseria  ffdva,  Pteris  anceps,  Carex 
berthoudi^  Sabal  goldana,  Qaercus  stramiueus,  Ulmus  irregularis,  novf 
Ficus  irregularis,  Ficus  auriculata,  F.  spectabilis,  Cissus  kvvigatus, 
Dombey apsis  trivialis,  D,  occidenialis,  now  Ficus  occidenfalis, Sapindus 
cavdatus,  Cennothifs^/ibrillosKs,  now  Zizyphus  Jfbrillosus,  Rhamnus  cle- 
burni,  B.  golda,ins,  R.  goldanus,  var,  lafior;  from  Erie  Mines,  Boulder 
Valle}',  Canlinites  fecnndus,  Cerris  eocenica;  from  Carbon  station, 
Wyoming,  Populus  decipiens,  Ficus  obhinceolata,  Coccolobn  Imvigata, 
Asimina  eocenica,  Zizyphus  meeki;  from  Black  Butte  station,  Sphaeria 
myrica:,  Opegrapha  antiqua,  CauUnites  sparganioides,  Myrica  torreyi, 
Ficus  planicostata,  F. lilanicostata,  var.  latifolia^  F.  clinfoni,  F.  cory-. 
lifoUus,  F.  haydeni,  Vibernum  marginatum,  V.  contortum,  Cissus 
lobato  crenatus,  Aleiirites  eocenica,  Paliurus  zizyphoides,  Carpolithes 


r 
*■ 


108 


Cretaceous, 


falcatus;  from  the  Black  Butte  saurian  berl,  Vihernum  diehotomum; 
from  the  Black  Butte  red  baked  shale,  Qitercn.s  wyominyanus;  from 
Evanston,  Calycites  hexaphylla,  Carpolithcs  arachioides,  now  Leynm- 
inosites  arachioides;  from  Elk  creek,  near  Yellowstone  river,  C<(rpo- 
lithes  osseins;  from  six  miles  above  Spring  canon,  near  Fort  Ellis, 
Abies  setigera  and  Nyssa  Lanceolata. 

He  described,  from  the  Dakota  Group,  six  miles  south  of  Fort 
Harker,  Kansas,  Jlymenophyllum  cretaceiun,  Caulinites  spinosus, 
Populites  fagifoliu,  t'iciis  sternhergi,  now  Persea  sternbergi,  Sassa- 
fras mirabile,  S.  recurvatum,  now  Platanus  recurvata,  8.  harker- 
anum,  now  Cissites  harkeranns,  LairrophyllHrn  reticulatum,  Pteros- 
permites  sfernbergi,  now  Protophyllnm  sfernbergi;  from  nine  miles 
above  Salina  in  tjie  Saline  Valley,  Kansas,  Populites  saJinoi,  now  Men- 
ispermites  salinensis,  P.  ajffinis,  now  Cissites  affinis,  and  Pterospermites 
rugosvs,  now  Protophyllum  rngosum. 

Prof  Meek*  said  that  the  coal-bearing  rocks  at  Coalville,  Utah,  are 
undoubtedly  of  Cretaceous  age,  as  he  had  from  the  first  maintained, 
and  he  quoted  in  support  of  this  view  his  remarks  in  Dr.  Hayden's 
Report  of  1870,  page  299.  He  prepared  a  section  running  from  the 
principal  coal-bed,  near  Coalville,  in  a  northwesterly  direction,  to  Echo 
canon,  a  distance,  b}'  a  right  line  a  little  obliquely  across  the  strike  of 
the  roi  ks,  of  about  three  and  a  half  miles.  This  section  commences 
393  feet  below  the  heavy  bed  of  coal,  and  furnishes  a  thickness  of 
3,980  feet  below  the  conglomerate,  or  including  the  conglomerate,  which 
is  here  700  feet  in  thickness,  4,680  feet  of  strata.  Several  parts  of 
this  section  contain  marine  Cretaceous  fossils,  the  highest  of-  which  is 
gray,  soft,  sandstone,  30  feet  in  thickness,  and  1,431  feet  below  the  con- 
glomerate.    It  contains  many  large  Inoceramus,  Ostrea  and  Cardium^ 

The  conglomerate  not  only  composes  the  towering  walls  of  Echo 
canon  at  places  forming  perpendicular,  or  even  overhanging  escarp- 
ments,. 500  to  800  feet  in  height,  but  also  rises  into  mountain  masses 
on  the  west  side  of  Weber  river,  near  the  mouth  of  the  canon.  It 
probably  attains  a  thickness  in  places  of  2,000  feet.  This  he  referred 
to  Tertiary  age  because  of  its  position  above  the  Cretaceous,  its  non- 
conformability  with  the  rocks  below  it,  and  its  remarkably  coarse 
material. 


*6th  Rep.  Hayden's  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 


Menozoic  and  Camozoir  Qrology  and  PolcBontoJogy, 


109 


Keciirrln<5  to  the  Rocks  at  Coalville,  ho  says:  As  I    have,  however, 
mentioned  CaultH  and  lateral  displacements  of  the  strata  )\ere,    it  may 
be  thought,  by  some,  who  are  yet  incredulous  in  regard  to  theCretace- 
<)us  age  of  these  coals,  that  these  disturbances  of  the  strata  may  liave 
4jiven    origin   to    erroneous   conclusions    respecting    the    position    of 
the  beds  containing  the  Cretaceous  types  with    relation  to   the  coals. 
This,  however,  is  simply  impossible,  because  these  fossils   occur  both 
above  and  below  the  coal  beds,  even  in  local  exposures,  where   all  the 
strata,  and  included  coal-beds  can  be  clearly  seen  conformable  and  in 
1  heir  natural  jwsitions  with   relatior  to  euch   other.     We  found   both 
above    and  below   the  main  coal-bed,    Inoccrainus  2)ro&^em« /;«,<»,    a 
widely  distributed  species,  tliat  is  very  characteristic  of  the  Niobrara  and 
Benton  Groups  of  the  Upper  Missouri,  which  there  occup}'  positions 
below  the  middle  of  the  series.     Again,  far  above  this,  numerous  speci- 
mens of  a  larger  Inoceramus,  which,  if  not  rcall}'  identical  with  one  of 
these  forms,  is  scarcely  distinguishable  from  /.  sagensis  and  T.  nehras- 
i'ensis.  which  occur  in  the  later  members  of  the  Upper  Missouri  series. 
From  these  facts,  it  is  more  probable  that  we  have  here,  at  and  near 
Coalville,  representatives  of  the  whole  Upper  Missouri  series,  with'pos- 
sibly  even  lower  members,   farther  up   Weber  river,   than  any  of  the 
known  Upper  Missouri  subdivisions  of  the  Cretaceous.     If  this  is  so — 
and  there  seems  to  be  but  little  reason  to  doubt  it — the  marked  differ- 
ence observed  between  almost  the  whole  group  of  fossils  found  here, 
and  those  of  the  Upper'  jMissouri  Cretaceous,  would  seem  to  indicate, 
that  there  was  no  direct  communication  between  the  Cretaceous  seas 
or  gulfs  of  that  region  and  those  in  which  these  Utah  beds  were  de- 
posited.    Differences  of  physical  conditions,    however,  probably  also 
played  an  important  part   in  the  production  of  this  diversity  of  life, 
since  it  is  evident  from  the  great  predominance  of  clays  and  other  fine 
materials  in  the  Cretaceous  beds  of  the   Upper   Missouri,  that  they 
were  deposited  in  comparatively  deeper  and  more  quiet  waters  than 
those  in  Utah,  in  which  coarse  sandstones,  with  occasional  pebbly  beds, 
predominate. 
The  strata  including  the  beds  of  coal  exposed  on  Sulphur  creek, 


J 


no 


Cretaceous. 


•  i 


near  Bear  river,  In  WcMtern  Wyoniing,  he  roj^arded  us  of  the 
same  a<,'c  as  the  CoalviUe  series.  His  seetion  liere  is  3,542  feet  thiek. 
Tlie  lower  1,21.1  feet  he  regarded  n.r,  certainly  Cretaceons,  tlie  next 
2,049  feet  he  tliouglit  is  probably  Cretaceons,  and  the  npper  280  feet  he 
regariU'd  as  of  Tertiary  age. 

Tiie  IJitter  creek  series,  wiiich  is  found  along  liittcr  creek  (a  small 
tributary  of  Green  river,  in  Wyoming),  from  Black  Butte  northwest- 
ward to  Snlt  Wells  Station,  on  the  i'nion  Pacific  Railroad,  and  at 
Rock  S[)ring,  and  some  other  [joints  west  of  Salt  Wells,  consisting  of  a 
vast  succession  of  rather  soft,  light-yellowish,  lead-gre}-,  and  whitish 
sandstones,  with  seams  and  bods  of  vaiious  colored  clays, 
shale,  and  good  coal,  the  whole  attaining  an  aggregate  thick- 
ness of  more  than  4,000  feet,  [)res(M>t  a  mingling  of  fresh,  brackish,  and 
salt  water  types  of  invertebrate  fossils,  such  as  Goniobasis,  Vivlparus, 
Corhi'cuUt,  Corbii/a,  Osfrea,  Anomltt,  and  Modiola.  This  is  the  Lig- 
nitic  Group  which  Prof.  Lesqucreux  determined  from  the  charaeter  of 
the  plants  to  be  of  Kocene  age,  and  Prof.  Cope,  from  the  Dinosaurian 
remains,  to  be  of  Cretaceous  age.  Prof.  Meek  thought  the  Judith 
river  brackish-Avater  beds  are  of  the  same  age,  and  that  the  inverte- 
brate fossils  alone  left  tlio  question  of  the  age  of  the  series  in  doubt. 
He  stated  the  information  as  to  its  age  in  the  following  summary: 

1.  That  it  is  conformable  to  an  extensive  fresh -water  Tertiary  for- 
mation above,  from  which  it  does  not  differ  materiallv  in  litholo<>ical 
characters,  excepting   in  containing  numerous  beds  and  seams  of  coal. 

2.  Tliat  it  seems  also  to  be  conformable  to  a  somewhat  differently 
composed  group  of  strata  (1,000  feet  or  possibly  much  more  in  thick- 
ness) below,  apparentl3'  containing  little  if  an}'  coal,  and  believed  to  be 
of  Cretaceous  age. 

3.  That  it  shows  no  essential  difference  of  lithological  characters 
from  the  Cretaceous  coal-bearing  rocks  at  Bear  river  and  Coalville. 

4.  That  its  entire  group  of  vegetable  vemains  (as  determined  by 
Prof.  Lesquereux)  presents  exclusivelj'  and  decidedly  Tertiary  af- 
finities, excepting  one  peculiar  marine  plant  [Hnlymeniles)^  which  also 
occurs  thousands  of  feet  beneath  undoubted  Cretaceous  fossils,  at 
Coalville,  Utah. 

5.  That  all  of  its  animal  remains,  yet  known,  arc  specifically  different 
from  anj'  of  those  hitherto  found  in  any  of  the  other  formations  of 
this  region,  or,  with  perhaps  two,  or  possibly  three  exceptions, 
elsewhere. 

6.  That  all  of  its  known  invertebrate  remains  are  mollusks,  con- 
sisting of  about  thirteen  species  and  varieties  of  marine,  brackish  and 


I  i 


Mcsoznlc  (n\(I  (Urnoznir  (ieohx/n  mid  PiiUvonhthufy, 


111 


fresh  wat(M'  typcn,  none  of  whitli  bi'lonjj  to  jjfencni  pci'iilinr  to  tlio 
Crctnceons  or  iiny  older  rocks,  l)ut  nil  to  sucli  us  are  alike  coimiioii  to 
the  CretuceoiiH,  Tertijiry  .'iiul  present  epochs,  witli  possildy  the  excep- 
tion of  frouiobonin,  wliidi  is  not  yet  eertiiinly  known  from  the 
Cretiu'ooiis. 

7.  Thiit,  on  the  one  hiind,  two  or  three  of  its  species  'nelonfj;  to 
sections  or  siil);;ener!i  (  L(:j)f(:t<flies  awi]  Vdoi-itlim)  appiirently  charac- 
teristic of  the  Kocene  Tertiary  of  Eiii'ope.  and  are  even  very  closely 
allied  to  species  of  that  ajfe  found  in  the  Paris  basin;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  one  species  seems  to  be  conspeeiJic  with,  and  two  congen- 
eric with  (and  closely  related  specifically  to)  forms  found  in  braek- 
ish-water  beds  on  the  lTp[)er  Missouri,  containing  vertebrate  remains 
most  nearly  allied  to  types  hitherto  deemed  characteristic  of  the 
Cretaceous. 

8.  That  one  species  o^  Amnnla  found  in  it  is  very  similar  to  a  Texcvs 
Cretaceous  sjioll,  and  perha[)s  specifically  identical  with  it;  while  a 
Vivipariiti,  found  in  one  of  the  upper  beds,  is  almost  certainly  identi- 
cal with  the  V.  Irochiformis  of  the  fresh-water  lignite  formation  of  the 
Upper  Missouri;  a  formation  that  has  always,  and  by  all  authorities, 
been  considered  Tertiary. 

9.  That  the  only  vertebrate  remains  yet  found  in  it  are  those  of  a 
largo  reptilian  (occurring  in  direct  association  with  the  Vivipurutt 
mentioned  above)  whicii,  according  to  l*rof.  Cope,  is  a  decide<lly  Cre- 
taceous type,  being,  as  he  states,  a  huge  Dinosaurian. 

He  described  from  Coalville,  Utah,  Ostren  soleniscus,  Avlcuhi 
proplenra.  A.  [fan trades,  Modlola  multillnigevd,  now  Vohelln  multi- 
lim'ffera,  Cyrtmi  carletoni,  Nerifinn  hellafala,  N,  pntelh'formis^  N. 
cardf.foides,  iV.  bfoinisferi,  iV.  pisum,  iV.  j>isiform.is,  Admefe  rhom- 
boides,  A.  siibfiisiformis,  Ttirritella  coalvillensis^  T.  micronema,  T. 
spironema,  Fiisas  (jubbi,  F.  iitahcnsh,  Turbonilla  codhuilersi.s,  En- 
linia  chrysalis,  E.  inconspican,  Jfelampus  antiqtnis,  Vahafa  natni. 
P/i//sa  oarZei'oxi;  from  the  Missouri  river  below  Gallatin  City,  ^Montana, 
Ostrea  anomioides,  Corbicida  injiexa,  Pharella  pealei ;  from  Bear 
river  city,  on  Sulphur  crejk,  Wyoming,  Trapezium  micronema,  Corbi- 
cida  wqiiilateralis,  C.  secvris,  from  near  Cedar  City,  Southern  Utah, 
Corbula  nematophora;  from  the  Bitter  creek  series,  at  Point  of 
Rocks,  W^'oming,  Ostrea  wyomingensis,  Corbula  tropidophora;  from 
Black  Butte  Station,  Corbicula  banmst.eri,  Melania  vyomingensis; 
and  from  Rock  Spring  Station,  Central  Pacific  Railroad,  Wjom- 
ing,  Corbula  vndifera  and  Goniobasis  insculpfa. 


IPZ 


Ci'cfftceoiiir. 


Prof.  E.  D.  C,\)|)c'''  (loscribcd,  from  Solomon  river,  FxansftH,  Portheuif 
gladius,  now  Peleroptcrus  glndiuit,  aiu\  Porfhetis  lesfrio. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Marnlif  doscnlxid,  from  Kunsiis,  ApntorniH  celer. 

F)r.  Joseph  LeUly*  lU'Hcriix'd,  from  Smokj  Hill  river,  Kjiiihus,  Cli- 
dasfes  ajfflniit;  luul  from  (Joliimhus,  IMississippi,  IJumylodus 
tnqueftfns. 

Mr.  JiimoH  Riclmrdson^  separated  the  (/retaceous*  rocks  of  Vancou- 
ver Island  into  seven  divisions  in  ascending  order  as  follows: 

A.  Prodn(!tive  coal  measures. 

B.  Lower  shales. 

C.  Lower  conglomerate. 

D.  Middle  shales. 

E.  Middle  conglomerate. 

F.  Upper  shales. 

G.  t'pper  conglomerate. 

A  section  of  division  A.,  on  Brown's  river,  is  shown  to  be  TIVJ.J  feet 
thick.  Division  B.,  on  Sable  river  and  Denman  Island,  1,000  feet. 
Division  C,  on  Denman  and  Hornby  Islands,  between  900  and  1,000 
feet.  Division  D,  on  Hornby  Island,  70  feet.  Division  E.,  on  Hornby 
Island,  from  1,100  to  1,200  feet.  Division  F.,  near  Tribune  Bay,  776A 
feet.  And  Division  G.,  on  Tribune  Bay.  'J20  feet.  Making  a  total 
thickness  of  5,000  feet. 

Dr.  Dawson  II  described,  from  the  Lower  Cretaceous  of  Queen 
Charlotte  Islands,  Cycadeocarpxis  colamhiamis. 

In  1874,  Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden^  said,  that  to  one  who  has  carefully  stud- 
led  the  divisions  along  the  ^Ilssouri  river,  the  Cretaceous  beds  in  Colo- 
rado and  New  Mexico,  may  be  separated  into  five  groups,  without 
much  difficulty.  The  Dakota  group  Is  well  shown  and  Is  alwaj's  char- 
acteristic, though  seldom  containing  any  organic  remains.  The  Niobrara 
group  Is  represented  by  a  thin  bed  of  Impure  gray  limestone,  and  thin 
calcareous  shale,  wltli  Osfreit  congesta  and  a  species  of  Inoceramus.  The 
fossils  are  about  the  same  as  those  occurring  on  the  Missouri,  ])ut  the 
rocks  have  little  of  the  chalky  texture,  as  observed  In  the  northwest 
and  in  Kansas.  The  Fort  Benton  and  Fort  Pierre  groups  are  black 
shaly  clays,  and  do  not  differ  materially  from  the  same  groups  occurr- 


"  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 

t  Am.  Jour.  Sei.  and  Arts,  3d  series,  vol.  5. 

i  Cont.  to  Extinct  Vert.  Fauna.  W.  Terr. 

§Geo.  Sur.  Can. 

II Geo.  Sur.  Can. 

H  Ann.  Rep.  U.  S.  Geo.  Snr.  Terr. 


MeaoziHC  and.  Camozoic  Oc(tlo{fy  and  Pnloionfologff.  1 1 :( 

iii^  in  other  IcK'ttlitios  to  tlio  iiortliwiiid.  'V\\v  Fox  Hills  j^roiip  coiitiiinH 
n  ^I'oat  ui)ini(liiiK'u  of  well  iitiuktMl  Cietaccotts  fosHiln,  tniiiiy  of  tlu>  Hpe- 
<it'H  idt'iitii'ul  witli  tlioHc  I'oinnl  (tii  tlu'  MiHsonii  river.  This  <»r(>ii|)  piissos 
tip  into  Iho  li}j;iiito  stnitu,  uppari'iilly,  without  any  nmrkiMl  iiiicoiit'orni- 
jihility.  In  ptissinji;  n|)wai(l  in  the  Fox  Hills  Gronp,  one  by  one  the  inol- 
InscM  of  purely  marine  eharaeter  disappear  until  only  soini;  varieties  of 
oysters  remain,  with  tim  plants  pi-euliar  to  the  Lij^nitie  fJrou[). 

Th(!  relation  of  the  well-defined  (-retaeeous  with  the  Linnitic  G  uup 
forms  one  of  the  most  important  problems  in  Western  <;eolojjf\,  and 
the  area  for  the  solution  of  the  tpiestion  i)r()l)al)ly  lies  in  the  Laramie 
l)lainH  and  wcsstward  toward  Salt  Tiake,  where  the  a;,'j;rej5ate  thieUness 
is  from  10,000  to  20,000  feet.  So  far,  the  evidence  from  the  vegetable 
remains  is  wholly  in  favor  of  the  Tertiary  ag<(  of  the  coal  j^roup.  The 
vertebrate  remains,  aecordinjj^  to.l'rof.  (!ope,  pla«e  tho  coal  jjfroup  with 
the  Cretaeeouu,  while  the  proof  from  the  invertebiate  fossils  is  not 
strong  in  any  direction,  although,  perhaps,  leaning  toward  the  Terti- 
ary. We  must  admit,  however,  that  the  lower  coal-beds  are  of 
Cretaceous  age  so  far  as  the  evidence  goes.  For  instance,  the  Coalville 
and  Bear  river  bods  are  most  probably  ('retaeeous,  inasmuch  as  many 
undoubted  Cretaceous  types  are  found  in  strata  above  the  coal,  and 
further  south,  in  New  Mexico,  Arizona,  and  Utah,  there  arc  coal-beds 
of  undoubted  Cretaceous  age. 

A.  R.  Marvine*  described  the  Dakota  Group  between  the  Big 
Thompson  and  South  Platte.  It  can  be  traced  from  one  point  to  the 
other,  though  it  is  somewhat  obscured  near  Golden  City  ;  this  is  due 
to  the  fact,  that  its  hardness  is  greater  tlmn  the  beds  either  above  or 
below,  and  it  forms  a  more  persistent  hog-back  ridge  than  any  other 
group.  Between  the  cross-cutting  streams  for  all  this  distance  and 
beyond,  it  rises  in  its  long  characteristic  ridge,  capping  the  soft  Juras- 
sic beds  below,  and  whether  the  dip  be  high  or  low,  usually  reaching  to 
about  the  same  level.  The  sandstones  are  usually  clear,  gritty,  eveu- 
grained  and  silicious  in  texture,  varying  from  a  silicious  conglomerate, 
on  the  one  hand,  to  a  hard  quartzite  on  the  other,  and  only  occasion- 
ally becoming  soft.  Their  color  is  usually  light  3'ellow  or  light  gray, 
or  even  white,  varying  to  rusty  yellow,  and  only  occasionally  red  in  the 
softer  portions.  These  are  the  hard  and  massive  portions  which 
characterize  the  group,  and  which  are  separated  b}^  thin,  shal}'  layers, 
which  maj"^  be  quite  argillaceous  or  even  carbonaceous  in  character, 
with  many  broken  remains  of  fossil  plants.     A  section  at  Bear  Canon 


<■  Hajden'8  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 


114 


Crefdceoufi. 


I'    W! 


shows  a  thickness  of  240  feet,  and  another  near  the  South  Platte  river, 
385  feet. 

The  Fort  Benton  Group  consists  of  a  series  of  shuly  beds,  wliich  may 
be  either  higlily  argillnccous  or  quite  arenaceous  in  cliaracter,  there 
boinjj^  associated  witli  them,  in  either  case,  a  few  th?n,  brown  sand- 
stones; the  thickness  from  Big  Thompson  to  South  Platte  var^ying 
from  100  to  400  feet,  A  section  at  Little  Thompson  creek  shows  a 
thickness  of  400  feet,  and  one  at  Bear  Canon  120  feet. 

Tlie  Niobrara  Group  is  decided!}'  calcaix-ous,  and  usually  contJiins 
numerous  fossils.  A  section  at  Bear  Canon  shows  105  feet,  and  one 
at  Little  Thompson  creek  150  feet.  The  Fort  Piei-re  Group,  at  Bear 
creek  is  about  300  feet  in  thickness. 

The  total  thickness  of  the  Dakota,  Fort  Benton,  Niobrara,  Fort 
Pierre,  and  Fox  Hills  Group,  at  the  jNIiddle  Park,  is  estimated  at  from 
.'5,500  to  4,500  feet.  A  section  of  the  Lignitic  Group  at  Golden  Cit^' 
shows  a  thickness  of  .3,, 300  feet,  and  the  estimated  thickness  at  ^Middle 
Park  is  5,500  feet. 

Pr'*".  LeoLesquereux*  described,  from  the  Lignitic  Group  at  Golden 
Co\ova(\o,Woodwa7'dia  lafilobct,  Pleris  erase,  P.  Nnbsimple,>\  P.  nffinis, 
now  Osminida  nffinis,  AspidliDit  gohllanum,  now  Lnsfren  (johhina, 
Sphenopt.eris  membrnnacea,  Selar/inclla  berthotuli,  Jii/me^opl/i/lhini 
covfasum.,  Flabellaria  friicfifera,  now  Sabalifes  fn(cfi/erns,  Querriis 
(johlnnns,  Pirns  2)l<inlcosiata,  viw:  go/dana,  F.  zizyphoides,  Plafaniis 
rhomboulea,  Vibernmn  Idkesi,  Xeliunbixm  lakesatnnn,  Ziz^jphns  dis- 
tortiis,  Phamnns  IncaqHcdls ;  from  Black  Butte, Wyoming,  TFoo</^rr/n?/« 
lauloba,  var.  minor,  Sphenopteris  iiifjricans,  Quercns  elebnrni,  Pisonia 
racehiosa;  from  the  roof  of  coal  mines  at  Sand  creek,  Colorado,  Pferis 
(/(O'diieri,  now  Gymnoijrnmma  gardncri,  Equisefian  la'vif/af.iim,  Erio- 
eaulon.  porosum,,  J^eltnnbiitm  feniiifoliwm  ;  from  Coal  creek,  Colorado, 
Cornus  holmcsi ;  from  Evanston,  La  urns  sessif(ffora,  \iow  Tetranthera 
sessilijiora ;  and  froui  Mount  Brosse,  or  Troublesome  creek,  Persea 
brossana,  now  Ldurns  brosscum,  and   Cor  mis  impressa. 

Prof  E.  D.  (ope,  from  the  evidence  of  the  vertebrates,  and  especially 
from  the  evidence  afforded  l\y  the  remains  of  the  Dinosanria,  re- 
ferred the  Fort  Union  or  Lignitic  Gioup,  the  Judith  River  Group, 
tiie  Bitter  Creek  Group,  and  the  Bear  River  Group  to  tiie  upper 
Cretaceous.  And  he  described,  from  the  Fort  Union  Cretaceous,  of 
Colorado,  Cionodon  orctfifj/s,  Pohjonnx  mortnnrins,  Botfosaurns  per- 
rin/osus,  TrioDjj.v  var/nns,  Pliistotvenus  piincftdafns,  P.  insi<jnis,  and 
Adocus  lineolatus. 


•■■'  Iliiytleu's  7th  llep.  U.  S.  Goo.  Sur.  Terr. 


%'  i 


Mesozoic  and  Coinozoir  Geology  and  Paloiontology. 


115 


T.  A.  Conrad  described,  from  Trout  creek,  near  Fairplay,  Ptycho- 
ceras  aratum  and  Meekia  hullnta;  from  seven  miles  south-southeast  of 
Fairphi}',  Ilelicoceras  vesperfinuni,  Anchura  hdla  ;  and  from  near 
Denver.  IfaploscooJia  r.apnx. 

Prof.  Leo  Lcsciuereux  *  described,  from  tlie  Dakota  Group  at  Fort 
Ilarker,  Kansas,  Lyyodium  frickomanoides,  Greviopsis  haydeni ; 
from  Kansas,  Todea  saporfnnea,  Dioscoren  cretocea,  Flahellavia  min- 
ima, Ahnis  kansasaiin,  now  Ildmamelites  Jcansasanus,  Myrica  obttisa, 
Qnercus poranoides,  Sassaf'^'as  acKtilobniii,  Oreodnphne  cretacea,  Em- 
hothrivm  daphneoides,  Diospyros  rotaiidifolia ;  from  Minnesota,  Ficns 
hallana;  from  Decatur,  Nebraska,  Iledera  ovali.s,  Protophyllnm  ne- 
brascense;  from  the  blurts  of  Salina  H'wcv^  Pro  top  Iiy  Hun  minum;  from 
Warner's  quarr}'  eight  miles  from  Winnebago  village,  bluff's  of  the 
Missouri  river,  Ptenosfrobus  neb'rascensis. 

The  Cretaceous  is  visible,  in  North  Carolina,!  ^^"b'  ''^  ^^^^  bluff's  in 
the  southeastern  part  of  the  State,  from  the  Neuse  and  its  tribu- 
tary Contentnea,  southward.  It  is  best  exposed,  in  the  bluffs,  along 
the  Cape  Fear  between  Fayetteville  and  Wilmington.  The  rocks  for 
50  to  00  miles  below  Fayetteville  consist  of  sandstones,  clay  slates  and 
shales,  30  to  40  feet  thick,  in  many  places  dark  to  black  and  ver^'  lig- 
nitic,  with  projecting  trunks  and  limbs  of  trees,  and  at  a  few  points 
full  of  marine  shells.  For  40  to  50  miles  above  Wilmington,  and  in  all 
the  other  river  sections,  the  rock  is  a  uniform,  dark,  greenish-gray, 
slightly  argillaceous  sandstone,  massive,  and  showing  scarcely  any 
marks  of  bedding.  This  sandstone  everywhere  contains. a  small  per- 
centage of  glauconite,  and  is  the  representative  of  tlie  true  grcensand. 

The  Ripley  Group  was  so  named  bj-  Conrad  from  the  town  of  Ripley, 
Mississippi, J  in  1858,  and  some  of  the  species  of  shells  at  that  place 
are  identical  with  species  from  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  Eufaula, 
Alabama,  and  Haddonfleld,  New  Jersey.  The  mineral  character  of  the 
beds  and  state  of  preservation  of  the  fossils  are  the  same,  proving 
not  only  a  simultaneous  deposit,  but  a  similar  depth  of  water,  not  in 
an  estuary  but  in  a  marine  basin.  This  group  constitutes  the  great 
bulk  of  the  Cretaceous  strata  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and,  as  Conrad 
supposed,  corresponds  most  nearly'  in  age  with  the  Senonian  stage  of 
D'Orbigny,  or  that  part  of  the  Cretaceous  which  underlies  and  most 
nearl}^  approaches  in  age  the  chalk. 


ir 


r--'tr  ;■'; 


•■•  Cret.  Flora,  Hayden's  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr.,  vol.  0. 

tGeo.  ofN.   Carolina,    1875. 

t  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.   Sci.  2d  ger.  vol.  3, 


IIG 


Crefoceous, 


In  1875,  he  described,*  from  the  Ripley  Group  at  Snow  Hill,  Greene 
county,North  Carolina,  Anomin  linifern^ltadnln  oxypletira,  TrUjonarcn 
triquetra^  T  umbonain,  T.  perovnlffi^  T.  carolitiensis,  T.  congesfa,  Ne- 
modon  brevffrons,  Burlxitia  carolinensis,  Ti.lititea,  Arcoperna  cnrolin- 
enni's,  Inopernn  carolinensis^  My  til  us  condecoratus^  31.  nasntus,  Etea 
carollnensis.^  Brachymeris  alta,  Crassatelki  caroUnensis,  C  literopslSy 
Arene  caroUnensis,  Luoina  (jlebnla,  Cardium  caroUneuse,  Protocardia 
caroli'nensfs,Aphrodina  regui,Cyrlofhi/7'ts  alia,  C.  caroh'nensis,  Jiaroda 
carol/nens\'s,  Oene plana,  Linearia  carolinensis,  Valeda  lintea,  f'ynri- 
meria  depressa,  Hercodon  elUpticus,  Cymella  bella,  Corbula  caro- 
Ifnensis,  C.  bisulc<tta,C.  perbrevis,C  subijibbosa,  Diploconcha.  crefacea, 
Callonema  anrolt'nense,  Lelodenna  thoracica^  Lnnatia  carolinensis, 
and   from  Cape  Fear  river,  Corbula  oxynema,  and  Anomia  lintea. 

The  Cretaceous  rocks,|  corresponding  in  age  with  the  great  chalk 
formations  of  Europe,  though  vor}'  different  from  them  in  mineral 
character,  are  spread  over  a  great  extent  of  surface  in  the  western  part 
of  British  America.  Except  in  a  few  localities,  and  those  chiett}^  in 
proximity  to  the  Rock}'  Mountain  region  of  uplift,  they  are  "still 
almost  as  perfectly  horizontal  as  when  first  deposited.  The  eastern 
edge  overlaps  Silurian  and  Devonian  beds,  and  runs  nearly  parallel 
with  the  base  of  the  Laurentian  range  for  a  distance  of  about  130 
miles,  from  the  53d  to  the  55th  parallel  of  latitude.  Southward  it  trends 
to  the  East,  and  probabl}'  crosses  the  49th  parallel  east  of  Red  river; 
while  in  southwestern  Minnesota  it  reposes  in  some  places  directlj' 
on  granites  which  are  no  doubt  Laurentian.  The  general  course  of 
the  eastern  outcrop  is  consequentl}'  about  north-northeast;  and  it  is 
marked,  broadlj',  b}'  a  series  of  escarpments  and  elevations,  including 
— from  south  to  north — Pembina,  Duck,  Porcupine  and  Basquia 
Mountains.  All  these  appear  to  be  composed,  for  the  most  part,  if 
uot  entirely,  of  Cretaceous  rocks,  though  the  extreme  edge  of  the 
formation  may  often  stretch  beyond  them.  These  mountains  are,  more 
corvectl}'  speaking,  the  salient  points  of  the  edge  of  the  second  plateau, 
and  the  generally'  horizontal  position  of  the  beds  thus  suddenly'  cut 
off  to  the  east,  attests  the  immense  denudation  which  must  have  taken 
place  in  modern  times.  North  of  the  Basquia  Mountain  the  edge  of 
the  Cretaceous  would  appear  to  run  westward  and  cross  the  Sas- 
katchewan near  Fort  a  la  Corne,  where,  at  Cole's  Falls,  a  dark-colored 
shale  has  been  referred   to  the  lowest  member   of  the   series.     The 


*Gco.  of  N.  Carolina,  1875. 

t  Dawson's  Rep.  Geo.,  49th  Parallel,  1875. 


var 
moi 
Fro 
occ 
the 
the 


I,   .a; 


Mesozoic  and  ucBnozoic  Geology  and  Palchontology. 


ir 


Tvestern  border  of  the  Cretaceous  seems,  in  some  places,  to  follow 
closely  along  the  base  of  the  Rock}'  Mountains,  but  many  circum- 
stances arise  to  complicate  it  in  that  region. 

The  Lignitic  Group  north  of  the  49th  parallel  is  not  bouniled  by  any 
great  physical  features  of  the  country',  but  adheres  closely  to  the  upper 
members  of  the  Cretaceous.  Though,  no  doubt,  originally  deposited 
in  extensive  basin-like  depressions,  it  is  now  generalh'  found  forming 
slightl}'  elevated  plateaus.  Denudation  must  have  acted  on  these 
rocks  on  a  vast  scale,  but  they  still  cover  an  immense  area,  and  con- 
tain the  greatest  stores  of  mineral  fuel  known  to  occur  in  the  vicinit}' 
of  the  49th  parallel.  The  line  of  their  eastern  edge  crosses  the  parallel 
near  the  102d  meridian,  and  thence  appears  to  pursue  a  north-west- 
ward  course,  remaining  for  some  distance  nearly  parallel  with  the  edge 
of  the  third  plateau.  Be^'ond  the  elbow  of  the  South  Saskatchewan, 
though  the  same  physical  feature  continues  to  the  north,  it  is  not 
known  what  relation  it  mav  bear  to  the  outcrop  of  this  formation,  nor 
has  its  northern  limit  been  ascertained. 

On  leaving  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  and  proceeding  westward,  the 
face  of  the  country  is  found  to  be  thickly  covered  with  drift  and  alluv- 
ial deposits.  The  Silurian  limestones,  which  probably-  exist  at  no  very 
great  depth,  are  not  observed,  and  the  first  rocks  seen  are  those  of  the 
Cretaceous  along  the  base  of  Pembina  mountain,  which  bounds  the 
Red  river  valley  on  the  west.  From  this  point  westward  to  the  base 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  no-i'ocks  are  found  older  than  the  Cretaceous. 
About  2')  miles  north  of  the  Line,  where  the  Bo^'ne  river  cuts  through 
the  Pembina  escarpment  the  Niobrara  Group  is  found  exposed.  The 
rock  is  a  cream-colored  or  nearl}'  white  limestone,  breaking  easily 
along  horizontal  planes,  parallel  to  the  surfaces  of  the  shells  of  Osfrea 
coiigestn,  and  Inoceramus,  of  which  it  is  in  great  part  composed.  The 
rock  also  abounds  with  more  or  less  perfect  remains  of  Foraminifera, 
Coccoliths,  and  allied  microscopic  organisms.  Prof.  G.  M.  Dawson 
hce  proposes  the  name  of  Pembina  Mountain  Group  for  what  he 
supposes  may  be  the  equivalent  of  the  Fort  Pierre  Group.  It  is  ex- 
posed in  the  valle}',  b}'  which  the  Commission  Trail  ascends  Pembina 
mountain,  about  ten  miles  north  of  the  49th  parallel,  and  where  tbe 
49th  parallel  cuts  the  base  of  the  Pembina  escarpment  rocks,  and  at 
various  other  places  for  about  40  miles  west  of  the  foot  of  Pembina 
mountain.  In  some  places  the  exposures  vary  from  100  to  240  feet. 
From  this  point  for  350  miles  west  no  exposures  of  the  Cretaceous 
occur  on  account  of  the  drift  deposits  which  cover  the  surface.  When 
the  rocks  underlying  the  drift  are  again  seen,  near  La  Roche  Percee, 
they  belong  to  the  Lignitic  Group. 


118 


Crefuceou.^, 


'■1 


The  Llgnitlc  Group  appears,  in  the  valley  of  the  Souris  river,  250 
miles  west  of  Red  river  ami  affords  nnnierous  sections.  The  mollusca 
as  well  as  .the  characters  of  the  strata  show  that  it  is  the  equivalent 
of  the  I^^ort  Union  Group.  A  bed  of  lignite,  7  feet  3  inches  in  thick- 
ness, occurs  in  the  Souris  valle}'  about  a  mile  north  of  the  position 
occupied  by  the  Wood  End  depot.  The  strata  appear  to  be  nearly 
horizontal.  West  of  Wood  P^nd,  the  Souris  valley  runs  north-westward 
along  the  base  of  the  Coteau,  diverging  rapidly  from  the  boundary 
line.  It  loses,  at  the  same  time,  its  abrupt  character,  and  no  exposures 
of  the  rocks  occur  for  a  long  distance.  In  following  the  49th  parallel, 
the  escarpment  of  the  third  great  prairie  level  is  overcome,  and  it  is 
not  till  after  having  passed  through  the  broken  Coteau  belt,  and 
reached  the  Great  Valley,  that  exposur'^s  of  the  underlying  rocks  occur. 
This  valley  is  the  most  eastern  great  channel  of  erosion  which  crosses 
the  Line  southward,  toward  the  Missouri,  and  in  it  the  beds  of  the 
Lignitic  Group  are  exhibited  on  a  grand  scale.  On  the  boundary- 
line,  thus  a  space  of  82  miles,  from  the  2G:]  to  the  345  mile  point,  is 
completely  shrouded  by  drift.  There  is  every  reason  to  believe, 
however,  that  the  Lignitic  Group  stretches  uniuterruptedly  between 
the  two  localities,  and  an  exposure  some  distance  north  of  the  line 
sustains  this  view. 

In  the  Great  Valle3',  the  beds  exposed  are  at  an  elevation  of  about 
700  feet  greater  than  those  near  Wood  End,  on  the  Souris  river.  They 
consist  of  shales,  clays,  and  sandstones,,  with  beds  of  lignite.  The 
next  stream  crosses  the  line  at  the  351  mile  point,  called  Pyramid 
creek,  where  the  lignite  l)eds  arc  again<  exposed.  The3' renppear  on 
Porcu[)ine  creek,  35  miles  farther  west,  and  near  the  ^'93  mile  point, 
on  the  line,  an  18  feet  bed  of  lignite  occurs.  The  fossil  plants  here 
are  nearly  identical  with  those  of  the  Fort  Union  Group.  In  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Wood  Mountain,  hard,  gravish  sandstones,  belonjifinir  to 
tins  group,  are  exposed,  in  the  sides  of  the  hills  and  banks  of  the 
valleys.  At  10  miles  from  Wood  Mountain  the  edge  of  the  plateau  is 
reached,  and  a  few  miles  further  on,  the  junction  of  the  lignite  with 
the  marine  Cretaceous  is  crossed.  Twenty  miles  south  of  the  Wood 
Mountain  settlement,  on  the  40tli  parallel,  near  the  425  mile  point 
from  Red  river,  the  Lignitic  Group  is  found  superimposed  upon  the 
marine  Cretaceous.  The  exposures  are  numerous,  and  are  produced 
by  the  streams  flowing  from  the  southern  escarpment  of  the  water- shed 
plateau,  which  has  been  gashed  by  their  action  into  most  rugged  Bad 
Lands. 

This  term  has  attached  to  it,  in  the  western  regions  of  America,  a 


Mesozolc  and  Cwnozoic   Geology  and  Paloioiifoloyg.  Ill) 


peculiar  significance,  iintl  is  apidied  to  the  rugged  and  desolate  country 
formed  where  tiie  soft  clayey  formations  are  undergoing  rapid  waste. 
Steep  irregular  hills  of  chi}",  on  which  scared}'  a  trace  of  vegetation 
exists,  are  found,  separated  by  deep,  nearly  perpendicular-sided,  and 
often  well  nigh  impassable  valleys;  or  when  denudation  has  advanced  to 
a  further  stage — and  especially  when  some  more  resisting  stratum  forms 
u  natural  base  to  the  clayey  beds — an  arid  flat,  paved  with  the  washed- 
down  clays,  almost  as  hard  as  stone  when  dry,  is  produced,  and  sup- 
ports irregular  cones  and  br.ttes  of  clay,  the  remnants  of  a  former 
high-level  plateau.  Denudation,  in  these  regions,  proceeds  with  ex- 
treme rapidity  during  the  short  period  of  each  year,  in  which  the  soil 
is  saturated  with  water.  The  term,  lirsl  and  typically  applied  to  the 
newer  White  liver  Tertiaries  of  Nebraska,  has  been  extended  to  cover 
country  of  similar  nature  in  the  lignite  regions  of  the  Upper  Mis. 
souri  and  other  areas  of  the  West.  In  the  Bad  Lands,  south  of  Wood 
Mountain,  the  hills  assume  the  form  of  broken  plateaus;  degenerating 
gradually  into  conical  peidis,  when  a  harder  layer  of  sandstone,  or 
material  indurated  by  the  combustion  ot  lignite  beds,  forms  a  resist- 
ant capping.  Where  no  such  protection  is  afforded,  rounded  mud- 
lumps  are  produced  from  the  homogeneous,  aren.aceous  clays.  Waste 
proceeds  entirely  by  tlie  power  of  failing  rain,  and  the  sliding  down  of 
tiiC  half-liquid  clays,  in  the  period  of  the  melting  snow  in  spring.  The 
clay  hills  are  consequently  furrowed,  from  top  to  base,  by  innumerable 
runnels,  converging  into  larger  furrows  below.  The  small  streams, 
rapidly  cutting  back  among  these  hills,  have  formed  many  narrow, 
steep-walled  gullies,  while  the  larger  brooks  have  produced  wide,  flat- 
bottomed  valleys  at  a  lower  level,  in  which  the  streams  pursue  a  ver^' 
serpentine  course.  Denudation  is  even  here,  however,  still  going  on 
as  from  the  frequent  change  in  the  channel  of  the  stream,  it  is  con- 
stantly encroaching  on  the  banks  of  the  main  valley,  undercutting 
them  and  causing  landslips. 

The  general  section  at  this  place,  in  descending  order,  is  as  follows: 

1.  Yellowish  sand  and  arenaceous  clay,  sometimes  indurated  in  cer- 
tain layers  and  forming  a  soft  sandstone.  It  forms  the  flat  plateau — 
like  tops  of  the  highest  hills  seen.     About  oO  feet. 

2.  Clays  and  arenaceous  clays,  with  a  general  purplish-gra^-  color 
when  viewed  from  a  distance.  It  contains  a  lignite-bearing  zone  and 
beds,  rich  in  the  remains  of  plants,  and  in  the  lower  part,  the  remains 
of  vertebrate  animals.     About  150  feet. 

3.  Yellowish  and  rustj'  sands,  in  some  places  approaching  arenaceous 
claj'S,  often  nodular.     About  80  feet. 


-.  i 


120 


H, 


Cretaceous, 


4.  Groyish -black  clays,  rather  hard  and  very  homogeneous,  breaking 
into  small  angular  fragments  on  weathering,  and  forming  earthy 
banks.  This  division  belongs  to  the  upper  part  of  the  Fox  Hills  Group, 
and  only  about  40  feet  of  it  Is  exposed  at  this  place. 

The  sombre  clays  of  the  Fox  Hills  Group  may  be  traced  almost 
continuously  for  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles  west,  on  the  49th  par- 
allel, where  lower  beds  arc  exposed.  Near  the  crossing  of  the  49th 
parallel  and  trail  to  Fort  N.  J.  Turne}',  where  the  Wood  Mountain  As- 
tronomical Station  was  established,  good  exposures  of  the  Fort  Pierre 
Group  occur  in  the  banks  of  the  valley  of  a  large  brook.  Taking  into 
consideration  the  difference  of  level  between  this  locality  and  that  of 
the  section  above,  it  appears  that  the  Fort  Pierre  Group  must  be  at 
least  200  feet  below  the  Fort  Union  or  Lignitic  Group. 

Westward  from  these  sections  the  continuity  of  the  Cretaceous  clays 
In  the  vicinity  of  the  boundary  line  is  indicated  b}-  occasional  small 
exposures,  and  at  a  distance  of  13  miles  a  tolerably  good  exhibition  of 
the  Fort  Pierre  Group  occurs.  Where  the  boundary  line  crosses 
White  Mud  river,  or  Frenchman's  creek,  numerous  and  very  fine  ex- 
posures occur.  The  stream  flows  in  the  bottom  of  a  great  trough,  cut 
out  of  the  soft  Cretaceous  strata,  over  300  feet  deep,  and  in  some  places 
fully  three  miles  wide.  The  tops  of  the  banks,  on  both  sides  of  the 
valley,  are  formed  of  yellowish  ferruginous  sands  referable  to  the  base 
of  the  Fort  Union  Group.  Below  this  the  sombre  clays  of  the  Fox 
Hills  and  Fort  Pierre  Groups  have  a  thickness  of  '273  feet  to  the  water 
level  of  the  river.  A  similar  section  occurs  on  the  main  trail  going 
west  from  Wood  Mountain  in  the  Valley  of  the  AVhite  Mud  river,  16 
miles  north  of  the  49th  parallel,  and  23  miles  northwest  of  the  last 
described  exposure. 

On  the  western  side  of  White  Mud  river,  hilly  ground  occurs,  and  at 
about  the  505  mile  point  from  Red  river,  the  prairie  makes  a  very 
definite  rise  and  forms  a  plateau,  which  extends  along  the  49th  par- 
allel to  the  534  mile  point.  The  plateau  is  composed  of  the  Fort 
Union  Group.  On  coming  to  the  western  edge  of  this  plateau,  a  great 
area  of  barren  and  arid  prairie,  at  a  lower  level,  and  based  on  the  Fort 
Pierre  Group  is  seen  stretching  westward  toward  Milk  river.  An  in- 
teresting section  of  the  Fort  Pierre  Group  and  lower  strata  occurs,  in  a 
deep  A'alley,  about  six  miles  west  of  the  East  Fork  of  Milk  river,  on 
and  near  the  49th  parallel.  The  thickness  exposed  is  893  feet.  The 
Valley  of  the  Milk  river  offers  continuous  and  magnificent  sections  of 
the  Fort  Union  Group.  The  country,  on  both  sides  of  it,  is  seamed 
with  tributar}'  ravine^  and  gorges,  the  banks  of  which  are  often  nearly 


Mcsozoic  and  Camozoic  Geology  and  Pafoeontology.         121 

perpendicular,  and  which  ramify  in  all  directions.  The  banks  of  INlilk 
river  rise  abruptly  nearly  :J00  feet  above  the  level  of  the  stream,  and 
are  more  than  a  mile  apart.  Sections  of  the  Fort  Union  Group  were 
obtained  near  the  49th  parallel  284  feet  in  thickness.  In  the  coulees 
and  gorges  which  intersect  the  prairie  on  the  west  side  of  the  Milk 
river,  exposui'cs  of  the  same  group  continue  to -occur  for  many  miles. 
Near  the  620  mile  point,  west  of  Red  river,  a  very  interesting  and 
highly  fossiliferous  section  of  the  brackish  water  deposits  of  the  Fort 
Union  Group  is  exposed.  In  the  valleys  which  seam  the  flanks  of 
the  hills,  and  furrow  the  surface  of  the  prairie  around  East  Butte 
numerous  more  or  less  extensive  exposures  of  this  group  occur.  But 
on  the  west  side  of  West  Butte,  where  a  considerable  brook  issues  from 
the  central  valley,  a  section  ot  the  Fort  Pierre  Group  is  exposed,'800 
feet  in  thickness. 

The  exposures  of  the  Fort  Union  Group  continue  to  occur  as  we  go 
west  until  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  reached.  They  occur 
on  the  branches  of  jNIilk  river,  St.  Mary  river  and  the  Belly  river. 

Prof.  G.  jM.  Dawson  found  the  Lignitic  or  Fort  Union  Group  every- 
where conformable  with  the  Fox  Hills  Group  below.  He  referred  it  to 
Tertiary  age,  and  estimated  the  thickness,  assuming  the  horizontality 
of  the  beds  and  the  rise  in  the  general  surface  of  the  country,  at  not  less 
than  1,000  feet. 

Dr.  J.  VV'.  Dawson*  described,  from  the  Fort  Union  Group,  south  of 
Woody  Mountain,  Lemna  scutata,  and  from  west  of  Woody  Mountain, 
JEsciilus  antiqua. 

Prof.  E.  D.  Copef  described,  from  the  Fort  Union  Group,  six 
mi'es  west  of  First  Branch  of  Milk  river,  near  latitude  49°,  Cion- 
odon  stenopsis^  Compsemys  ogmius,  and  from  the  Bad  Lands  of  South 
Woody  Mountain,  Plastomenus  coalescens,  and  P.  costatus. 

Speaking  of  the  age  of  the  Fort  Union  or  Lignitic  Group,  the 
Bitter  creek  series  and  the  Bear  River  Group  he  saysj  that  Prof. 
Lesquereux,  as  is  well  known,  pronounced  this  whole  series  of  forma- 
tions to  be  of  Tertiary  age.  The  material  (fossil  plants)  on  which 
this  determination  is  based  .is  abundant,  and  it  must  be  accepted  as 
demonstrated  beyond  all  doubt.  But  that  he  regarded  the  evidence 
.  derived  from  the  moUusks  in  the  lower  beds  and  the  vertebrates  in 
the   higher    as   equall)^  conciusive   that  the  beds   are  of  Cretaceous 


'•'Rep.  Goo.,  40th  parallel. 

t  Geo.  Rep.,  40th  parallel. 

t  Vert.  Crct.  Form,  of  the  West.— Hayden's  U   S.  Goo.  Sur.  Terr.,  vol.  2. 


w 


122f 


Crefrtdeovf. 


age 


There  is,  then,  no  alternative  but  to  accept  the  result  that  k 
Tertiary  flora  was  contemporaneous  with  a  Cretaceous  fauna,  estalv 
lishing  an  uninterrupted  succession  of  life  across  what  is  generally 
regarded  as  one  of  the  greatest  breaks  in  geologic  time. 

He  described,  from  the  Niobrara  Cfroui),  ^'t'  Colorado,  Sij/- 
Icemus  hitifrona ;  from  the  Fort  Benton  Group,  two  miles  west 
of  Sibley,  Kansas,  I*eh/cor<ipis  imrins;  from  the  Niobrara  Group 
or  yellow  chalk,  near  the  Solomon  river,  Kansas,  Porfheus  xnufdtus, 
P.  miidge/',  and  ParJii/rhizodns  Jepfopnis;  from  pjUis  county,  Kansas, 
Lamnu  macrorhizo^  L.  iiii(d(/et\  and  Empo  merrilU;  from  Trego 
county,  Empo  contracta  and  Empo  semuoireps;  from  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Fort  Wallace,  Phasganodus  cdriimtus,  P.  (jfadiolns,  P.  anceps; 
from  Phillips  county,  Tetheodus  pephredo;  from  Kansas,  Enchodns 
doliclnis,  E.  pef.rosi/s,  Pqlecopferns  efiit'io'f/n.s,  Toj'ochelys  sen'ifer; 
from  Stockton,  Kansas,  Pfi/chodns  jdneirnyl;  from  Spring  creek,  in 
Rooks  count}',  Pelecopterns  pernlciosvs;  from  the  Greensand  of 
New  Jersey,  Osteopyyis  erosns,  Enchodnx  oxyfomus,  E.  tetraecus,  Lep- 
tomylvs  forfex,  Diphrissa  latidens,  Bryacfinns  amorphtts,  Ischyodns 
steiiohryus,  I.  tripartltu^,  T.  lonyfrostris,  T.  incrassatus,  I.  ynskifli,  I. 
fecundus,  Tsotamia  neoccesariensis. 

And  ht  furnished  a  section  of  the  Cretaceous  rocks  of  the  region 
west  of  the  Sierra  Madre  range  of  New  Mexico  as  follows:* 

Dakota  Group,  500  feet. 

Fort  Benton  (iroup,  2,000  feet. 

Niobrara  Group,  400  feet. 

Fort  Pierre  Group,  1,500  feet. 

Uncertain  (concealed  in  the  Sage  plain),  500  feet. 

G.  K.  Gilbertf  found  a  section  of  the  Cretaceous  exposed  by  the 
north  fork  of  the  Virgin  river,  from  the  vicinity'  of  Mountain  Lakelet 
to  Rockville,  Southern  Uta.i,  1,800  feet  in  thickness,  and  another  on 
the  west  fork  of  Paria  creek,  935  feet. 

Prof.  G.  F.  Credner;*;  described,  from  the  Cretaceous  of  Texas,  Salenia 
texana. 

J.  J.  Stephenson§  found  the  Cretaceous  out-crop  practically' 
unbroken  from  Golden,  Colorado,  to  Mexico.  On  the  west  side  of  the 
front  or  eastern  range,  there  is  a  narrow  area,  of  which  onl^'^  isolated 
portions  remain  in  Huerfano,  Wet  mountain,  Current  creek,  and  South 


'■'Proc.  Acad.  Nat,  Sci. 
t  Geo.  Sur.  W,  100th  Merdian,  vol.  3. 
X  Zeitschrift  fur  d.  gesamniten  Naturwiss. 
I  Geo.  Sur.  W.  lOOtl*  Meridian,  vol.  8. 


Meaozoic  and  Cmiozoic  Oeolnyy  and  Palaonfology.         123 


Parks.  In  the  area  of  the  Sun  Juan  they  aro  the  only  rocks  exposed 
l)et\veen  Macomb's  trail  and  the  New  Mexico  line,  exeeptinj?  the  small 
[)atch  of  Triassic,  on  the  Rio  Florida,  and  Rio  de  las  Animas.  The 
rocks  differ  in  detail,  but  as  a  whole,  the  series  is  made  up  of  thred 
divisions.  The  lower  is  a  mass  of  sandstone  200  to  ."iOO  feet  thick; 
the  middle  is  composed  of  shales  antl  limestones,  with,  in  the  eastern 
localities,  marls  and  sandstones  1,000  to  l,oOO  feet;  and  the  upper, 
chiefly  sandstones,  with  intercalated  shales  and  lignites  500  to  700 
feet. 

He  referred  the  whole  lignite  bearing  series  exposed  at  Canon 
Cit}'',  and  at  other  localities  along  the  eastern  base  of  the  Rocky  moun- 
tains, to  the  upper  Cretaceous. 

In  187G,  Prof  J.  W.  Powell*  separated  the  Cretaceous  rocks  of  the 
Plateau  Province  of  the  west,  in  ascending  order,  as  follows: 

1.  Henry's  Fork  Group,  500  feet. 

2.  Sulphur  Crook  Croup,  2,050  feet, 

3.  Salt  Wells  Group,  2,000  feet. 

4.  Point  of  Rocks  Group,  2,000  feet. 

The  Henry's  Fork  Group  consists  of  sandstones,  bad  land  rocks,  con- 
glomerates and  shales,  with  carbonaceous  shales  and  lignitic  coal. 
It  has  an  out-crop  parallel  and  approximately  coextensive  with  the 
Triassic  and  Jurassic;  that  is,  like  those  groups,  it  was  brought  up 
bytlio  great  Uinta  upheaval,  and  the  elevation  of  the  Yampa  Plateau. 
The  conglomerates  have  a  much  more  extensive  development  on  the 
south  than  on  the  north  side  of  the  Uinta  mountains.  On  the  south 
side  of  the  Yampa  plateau,  where  the  Fox  creek  and  Cliff  creek  flex- 
ures unite,  they  stand  on  edge,  with  a  dip  of  about  85°  to  the  south- 
east, and  arc  firmly  cemented,  and  stand  as  high  walls,  separated  by  a 
long,  narrow  vallc}',  strewn  with  fragments  of  the  conglomerate  which 
have  tumbled  down  from  either  side. 

The  Sulphur  Creek  Group  consists  of  black  shales,  occasionally 
friable  sandstones  with  carbonaceous  shales  and  lignitic  coal.  It  is 
well  exposed  near  Hilliard  station,  on  the  Union  Pacific  railroad,  in 
the  hills  cut  by  Sulphur  creek;  there  are  many  fine  exposures  on  the 
north  and  south  sides  of  the  Uinta  mountains;  on  Henry's  Fork ;  between 
the  head  of  Dry  Lake  valley  and  Vermilion  creek;  in  the  Escalante 
valley,  Paria  valle}^  Kanab  vallc}',  and  many  other  localities. 

The  Salt  Wells  Group  consists  of  sandstones  or  arenaceous  shales; 
often  very  friable,  producing  bad  lands,  with  carbonaceous  sliales  and 


Geo.  of  Uinta  MountuiuiK 


fm 


124 


Cretaceous, 


"ii 


I  '  t 


'i;' 


Hgnltic  coal.  The  rocks  are  well  exi>08C(l  on  Groon  Hvcr,  about  two* 
and  a  half  miles  above  Flaming  Gorge;  along  the  northern  flanks  of 
the  Uinta  mountains;  in  the  Pink  cliffs;  at  Gunnison's  Butte,  on 
Green  river  south  of  Gray  canon,  but  especially  in  the  eliffs  and  es- 
carped hills  of  the  Salt  Wells  basin,  east  of  the  debouchure  of  the 
Point  of  Rocks  (!anon. 

The  Point  of  Rocks  Group  consists  of  sandstones,  usually  indur- 
ated, sometimes  ferruginous,  with  many  beds  of  carbonaceous  shales 
and  lignitic  coal,  and  is  divided  into  the  Golden  Wall  Sandstone,  the 
Middle  Hogback  Sandstone,  and  the  Upper  Hogback  Sandstone.  The 
rocks  are  well  exposed  at  Point  of  Rocks  Station  on  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad,  in  the  escarpments  facing  Bitter  Creek,  at  Rock  Springs, 
on  Green  river,  2  miles  above  Flaming  Gorge,  at  the  foot  of  Desola- 
tion Canon,  and  Gray  Canon  on  Green  river,  in  the  Wahsatch  Cliffs 
at  the  head  of  the  P^scalante  river,  and  in  the  hills  at  the  foot  of  the 
Pink  Cliff's  in  Southern  Utah. 

Prof.  C.  A.White*  described,  from  the  Point  of  Rocks  Group,  near 
Point  of  Rocks,  Wyoming,  Ostrca  insecir/'a,  Odo.Jobasis  hnccivoidea  ; 
from  Upper  Kanab,  Utah,  ITnio  (jonionotvs,  FU.norhis  kanabensis, 
Physa  Icnnribenais^  Helix  kannbensis ;  and  from  Bear  River  Valley, 
near  Mellis  Station,  Wyoming,  Jthytophnrus  meeki,  Goniobasis  cle- 
burni,  G.  chrysaloi<len,Vivipnr>tfi  punyuitchensis;  from  the  Salt  Wells 
Group,  near  Coalville,  Utah,  Osfrea  sannionis,  Area  coahu'Uensis, 
Lxinatin  lUahensis;  from  Last  Chance  creek.  Southern  Utah,  Inocera- 
mus  (jilbertl;  and  from  Upper  Kanab,  Utah,  and  Hilliard  Station, 
Wyoming,  Cyrena  erecta. 

He  described,  from  the  Sulphur  Creek  Group  at  Upper  Kanab,  Utah, 
Turnns  spheiioideus,  Anchnra  rinda,  and  A.  prolabiata. 

He  described  from  the  Henry's  Fork  Group  at  the  head  of  Water- 
pocket  canon.  Southern  Utah,  Plicntula  hydrotheca;  from  Lower 
Potato  Valley  and  Upper  Pine  creek,  Utah,  Inoceramus  howelli;  from 
Middle  Park,  south  of  Grand  river,  Colorado,  Avicula  parkensfs. 

He  described,  from  the  Bitter  Creek  Group  at  Black  Buttes,W3'oming, 
Unio  jjetrinus,  XT.  prupheticiis,  U.  brachyopisthns,  Neritina  volvi- 
linenta,  Viviparus  plicapresfms.  Leioplax  tiirricida;  from  Almy  coal 
mines,  near  Evanston,  Pisldium  saginatnm,  Hydrobia  recta;  from 
Point  of  Rocks,  Corbvla  subandifera;  from  south  base  of  Pine  Valley 
Mountain-.,  Utah,  Helix  peripheria,  and  from  Musinia  plateau, 
Hydrobia  utahensis. 


'•'  Geo.  of  Uinta  Mountains, 


Meso.~()i)'  and   Crruozoic   Oeofo(/i/   hhiI    Pd/d'onfoloifi/.  12.' 

Dr.  V.  V.  Ilnydcii*  s!vi<l  tlic  Dakotji  Gioiip  is  ('oin|)os('(l  of  niiissivt,' 
UedH  of  sniidstoiu's.  iiitcrscclcd  with  hivcis  of  clnv,  aii<l  Ibniis  sonio 
of  ♦'lie  most  coiispiciious  ridges  or  "  ho;^l»!U'ks  "  ulonj^Llic  ojisti-in  l)!iso 
of  the  Front  or  ('olorutlo  laii^o.  Its  iinportiince,  however,  viirics  in 
diircront  locnlitirs  ms  miidi  !is  its  ((.'xtiiru;  soinotiineH  it  is  si-jiri-cly 
seen,  .'iiid  tlicii  iigniii  it  tonus  one  or  more  of  the  most  importuiit,  ridges, 
lis  !i,u';j;r('<j;!iti!  tliickncss  is  lujvcr  grojit,  viir,viii<;-  IVom  200  to  100  feet. 
;ind  iiiiiy  1)0  loin'csciitcd  hy  a  very  njirrow  belt  on  tlu;  ni!i|).  West  of 
the  lOOth  meridiiiM  it  has  yielded  very  l\'\v  or2:inic,  remuiiis,  nltiioiii'h 
it  has  a  very  extended  gcoj^raiiliiea!  ran;;e.  It  is  liardly  ever  wanting 
along  the  margins  of  the  mountain  ranges  east  of  the  Wasateh  Afoun- 
tiiins,  in  Utah.  From  its  structure  in  the  far  West  Ik,"  regarded  it  as  a 
sort  of  transitional  group  between  the  well-dedned  Cretaceous  and  the 
Jurassic  below. 

Dr.  A.  C.  I'eale  measured  a  section  of  the  Dakota  Oronp  ben(!atii 
station  7:J,  noi'th  side  of  Gunnison  river,  tliat  i)resented  a  thickness  of 
.");!()  feet,  and  another  section  at  station  GO,  that  |)resented  a  thickness 
of  O")!  feet. 

The  Fort  lienton  and  Nioorara  Groups  are  found  in  tlie  valleys  of 
Grand  and  Gunnison  rivers,  and  on  the  North  Fork  of  the  (Junnison. 
A  partial  section  l)etweon  station  38  and  station  80  gave  a  thickness  of 
7'>3.i  feet,  and  another  section  on  Gunnison  river,  opposite  lioubidean's 
cre(;k.  measured  ()87  feet.  The  estimated  tiru-kness,  howevei',  incliuling 
the  Fort  Pierre  Gr(»up,  is  from  l,r)00  to  2,000  feet. 

On  Coal  creek  there  is  a  blulf,  in  tlie  face  of  which  are  exposed 
l,r)00  feet  of  light-gray  and  yellowish  sandstones  and  shales,  referred 
to  the  Fox  Hills  Group.  And  on  the  North  Fork  of  the  Gunnison  the 
exposures  are  of  greater  thickness.  On  the  ridge  dividing  Oh  be 
Joyful  creek  from  Anthracite  creek,  near  station  :]2,  a  section  of  sand- 
stones occurs  883  feet  in  thickness.  .Most  of  these  sandstones  have 
a  metamorphosed  appearance,  and  the  ridge,  in  which  they  are  ex- 
posed, is  intersected  with  dikes.  Below  the  strata  of  this  section 
there  are  pro[)ablv  1,000  feet  of  siiales  and  sandstones  to  a  series  of 
coal-bearing  strata  on  Oh  be  Joyful  creek.  The  latter,  according  to 
Mr.  Holmes'  estimates,  is  about  2,000  feet  above  the  Dakota  Group. 

Above  these  beds  there  is  a  series  referred  to  the  Lignitic  Group 
from  7,000  to  8,000  feet  in  thickness,  covering  a  large  area  extending 
from  the  Grand  river  to  the  Gunnison,  beneath  the  basaltic  i)lateauf'i 
west  of  Roaring  Fork.     The  strata  are  conformable  to  the  underhing 

"^'Tth  Rep.  U.  S.  Ueo.  Sur.  Terr. 


:,i^ 


▼T* 


120 


CrefnceoHif. 


'  \ 


Fox  IHIIm  rin)ii|),  mid  it  is  «litllciilt  to  (Ictcrmiiic!  wlicro  oiio  foiinntioii 
("IkIm  iiiid  the  next  Ix'yiiis.  From  Dr.  I'c.'ilc's  t'Xjiniination  niid  study 
he  <I('(IiicimI  tlic  lollowiiiy  coiicliisimis: 

1.  The  li,y;nit<'  l>(!uriii<;'  heds  casi  of  the  rnoiiiitfiiiis  in  ('olortuhx 
arc  tlie  ('(imviilciit  of  tlio  Fort  Union  (Jron|>  of  tlic  IJpixT  Missouri, 
and  ill*'  Koci'iic'rcitiary ;  ;dsn  that  llic  lower  [mil  of  the  jiToni),  lit 
loiist  at  the  loenlily  'JOO  miles  east  of  tlu^  mountains,  is  tlie  equivalent 
of  a  part  of  tin;  liujnitic  strata  of  Wyoming'. 

'2.  The  Judith  rivei-  Ixnls  have  their  equivahMit  alon^'  the  eastern 
edge  of  the  mountains  l)el.)\v  the  Lignitie  (»r  Foil  I'nion  Group,  and 
also  in  Wyoming,  and  an^  ('retaeeoiis,  although  of  a  higher  horizon 
than  the  eoaldjearing  strata  of  Coalville  and  Heai- river,  I'taJi.  They 
form  either  th(^  ui)[)er  i)art  of  the  Fox  HiIIh  Grou[),  or  a  group  to  be 
called  No.  0. 

;{.  That  the  upper  part  of  the  Fox  Hills  Gioup  is  wanting  in  man3' 
p.'vrts  of  Fast(M"n  ('olorado,  and  when  presi.'ut  seems  to  he  thin  and 
destitute  of  eoal. 

F.  M.  Endlich  surveyed  the  San  Juan  mining  distiiet,  where  he 
found  the  Dakota  (Jrotii)  resting:  uneonformahly  upon  carbonilerous 
sandstone.  It  eonsists  of  sandstones  with  occasional  remains  of 
plants,  and  has  an  estimated  thickness  of  SOO  to  1,000  feet.  The  Fort 
Benton  Group,  consisting  of  dark-gra}*  shales,  subject  to  considerable 
erosion  from  the  action  of  watei',  is  found  from  400  to  GOO  feet  in 
thickness.     It  contains  beds  of  coal. 

These  groups  are  also  developed  on  the  San  IMignel  anil  on  the  Rio 
Dolores.  A  creek  flowing  scarcely  five  miles  has  at  the  junction  with 
the  San  Miguel  a  canon  1,005  feet  in  depth.  The  entire  canon  is  cut 
out  of  the  strata  of  the  Dakota  Group,  and  yet  the  whole  thickness  is 
not  exposed. 

Prof.  Loo  Lesquereux  found  the  flora  of  Point  of  Rocks  related  to 
that  of  Black  Butte  by  nine  identical  forms  or  one-third  of  its  known 
species,  notwithstanding  that  •  lere  are  two  to  three  thousand  feet  of 
interposed  measures.  The  distance  between  the  two  localities  is  only 
eleven  miles,  and  the  superposition  of  the  strata  is  exposed  so  that  the 
vertical  thickness  of  the  intervening  rocks  may  be  easily  ascertained. 
He  explained  the  scarcity  of  the  bones  of  animals  in  the  lower  beds  of 
the  Lignitic,  b}'  the  fact  that,  no  animal,  not  even  man,  if  once  im- 
bedded in  soft  [)eat,  can  get  out  of  it,  and  also  bj'  the  further  fact 
that  the  coriaceous,  ligneous  plants  of  the  bogs  are  not  food  for 
mammals. 

He  described,  from  the  Lignitic  at  Point  of  Rocks,  F'ucus  Ugnituni, 


Mesozoic  oiut  Coiinzoic  Geolofjij  untl  J'uhi niiftdi)i/ij. 


li»7 


Sfilriiu'd  nlleiinntii^  Sn/iiifine/id  J'lih'dfn,  8.  hnuainfn,  Si'qnnln  hl/onnin, 
lyiili/riiit/foiiin     c(/n)j»hnmfii,    I'isfin     rttn'iiifufn,    Otlelin     iiuui'icomi^ 


J)i'i/o/tLi//finii.     I't'iiiiifinii,    I),     sii/t/'iili-tif 


II  in . 


il 


h 


up  II I  IIS     niefiin<intti(li;n 


ill 


'I'riipH  niict'(>/t/ii///if,  Lmu'iis  {tn.icsfitus,  I'thnnimn  fofntiih'joh'uiii, 
(ii'aviojMi.s  rji'hitnii,  llliiis  iiieinhi'iiiniri  n ;  iVoiii  Alkilli  Sliilioii,  Aliiitcn 
iiii:i/ii  iifiriills,  ,1  iiijhiiiH  iii'/,-<ih'iiii,  Ctir/ii/cs  I'lfiui'in';  \'nni\  IJImcU  Iliilto, 
•Sphii'i'iii  j'/iijfisiuoiiles,  Siujuoiii  iirininiiiihi,  /)ius/ii/f'(>n  Jfnoi'tleit,  I'iltnr- 
iiiim  />liii.itii,(ji(len;  from  Suiilli  I'nrk,  nciir  ("iistcllo  riiiicli,  //i/pmnn 
hiii/ilciii;  from  (JijiimI  Ku^^Ic  .Fnnclinii,  /.jn/oi/iinii  iiiiirriiici;  iVuin 
(JoMcii,  Ziiiiiii>sti'i)lniH  m/ru/niis,  Animlo  i>hliixti,  I'tilimwih'.,^  ifu/itiiiuns, 
now  (jfc.inioinifcs  ijolitniins,  Sahul  coiniiiiiiils;  IVdiu  Miildlc  I'juk, 
Jli/ricii  iiisiuiiin,  (JiufMiiiii  luteniieilfii;  iVoiii  l'"(>!l  Ftsttcriiiiiii,  Ih-fiUn 
ijoydcsl;  iVoiu  I'leiisiiut  Park,  IMiiiii  cici-k,  l-'ii-ns  nnills;  :iihI  IVctin 
Kvaiistoii,  Ficiis  pseiKlii-jfojmhts. 

He  (lescri  1)0(1,  IVout  tlu'  Dukot.!  Group,  iic'ir  Fori  Ilurkor,  Khiihhs,* 
'Seqiini.n  cotiillfn,  Jfi^n'i'n  rt'efucnti,  Dri/oji/ii/l/mii  Infljoliimi,  Ficiis  ih'.i- 
toi'tit^  F.  l(iiiroj*/iijl/ii,  Liinriis  pfiil.cav/i»\iii\,  l><ij)hnitiieiii:  rrefiiren, 
Ai'ulia  sapufhiiieii,  Ilei/eni  schimpuvi,  II,  itliilunindiui,  f'issUcs  ncmn- 
/'iKftus,  C.  hacri^  Ainpeloiihijlhiin  nftenuaiinn,  Mciiisinwinlfi's  jtojuiH' 
J'o/i'us,  Asindiophiilluiii  r'l'i/ohiitinn,  Pfotuphyllinn  rrcdncrioiilns:  from 
Cliiy  (Jt!Ut(!r,  Kuiisiis,  Avuliu  concrefu.  A,  /oirncn',  Mcnhinrniih n 
oviilis,  M.  cyclophijUiis,,  Sfcrcnlin  liniidi'llobii;  trom  tlio  Fori.  lU'iitoii 
Group,  near  tlu!  Sau  Juan  i'ivor,.iu  soutliwest  ('(dorado.  Di'iiophiilhnn 
■s<i/iciJ''oh'iiin,  i\nd  flex  .styiinijiildtn  \  and  [\^nn  Spi'iug  ('aiioii.  Atidm 
medit  (ijfiiii.s, 

Prot  F.  11.  M(,'(.'kf  described,  from  LIm;  Dakota  Group,  soutliwest  of 
Sallna,  Kansas,  TrUjonarcn  sulinnensis \  from  the  Hig  Sioux  river. 
ArcopiKjella  macrodoiita;  from  tlie  Fort  Benton  Groiip,  at  the  head 
of  Wind  River  Valley,  Wyoming,  Jloi'foiiicerds  shoshonense;  fi'om  the 
Fort  Pierre  Group  on  Cherry  creek,  near  the  mouth  of  Sage  cicek. 
Dakota,  Odontubns'/'s  venfricosii;  IVom  the  Fox  Hills  Group,  Moreau 
river,  Microstizia  ini/leju'iictniit,  Osfven  niibahitu,  Pijropsiii  halrili\  var. 
rofula^  and  Scaphites  conradi,  var.  iiiiennc-din.s;  from  the  base  of  the 
Black  Hills,  Sjihivriola  wtin'enana;  from  00  miles  below  Fort  Benton 
on  the  Missouri,  Sphmriola  endoli'nchys;  from  Yellowstone  river,  \')(> 
miles  from  its  mouth,  Fasciolaria  yrdcilentd;  from  the  Fort  Union 
Gi'oup,  at  Clea'  F'ork  of  Powder  river,  Montana,  /li/drohia  cii/ihioidcs: 
from  the  Judith  River  Group,  at  tlie  mouth  of  Judith  river,  ^Montana, 
Hi/drobia  sHbeoni'cd,  and  Vulvdta  inimfauensis. 


••■■  7th  Rep.  Ilaydcn's  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 

t  Invert,  Cret.  and  Tert.  Fop:'.,  vol.  ix.,  Ilaydcn's  Sur. 


V2H 


Crefaceoiis. 


1 

^   ^ 


li,  P.  WliitlicM*  (Icsci'ilxMl,  from  the  Judith  River  Group,  at  the 
uiouth  of  Judith  I'iver,  '/'apes  monfanenHh,  Jlacf.ra  iiiaia^  Sanyniiio- 
hiri.ii  ()bl(if((,  und  'I'/iraciu  (irinnellL 

W.  -M.  (iabbf  desoi'ihed,  from  tlu;  (.'retaceous  of  New  Jerse}',  Penta- 
criims  l/rijdin',  Croiilaslcr  iiKniuni/lafji,  Scalpelliiik  ronradi,  IfuHfilns 
hryain',^  Snrcida  sfj'ij/osa,  O/tnlut  fhomasi,  0.  cijtdosfoma,  Laxisjiiro 
•luiubn'cah's,  Oslrea  firi/aiif,  Pdliurtis  fridiKjuUn'is  ;  from  the  Tjipley 
Groii[),  of  Nortli  Garolina,  E.rlb'fusiis  /rem',  Fascio/d/'ia  kevri^  F. 
oh/iqif.f'cos/afjf,  Gijrofro/tis  .sqif(tiiK>.sn,s,  Atdphrns  kerri,  Idonearcn 
envoi Inensis :  from  Patula  crr'-ik,  Georgia,  Drillin  <jcor(ji(ina^  Trito- 
niiim  cjleiitntinii,  JVansa  (jlohosa,  Fasclohiria  crnsslcoshi,  Pfijchoniiea 
iiicnixfc,  Apoi'i'hnis  hicdrhialn,  Bivonhi  crefdcca,  Phohidonij/a 
Utt/ei,  SchlzodcsiiKi  ((ppres.sa,  TcUiita  (/eort/iana,  (lavi  cUlpfica, 
Pei'onieodcnna  ijeotujhdid,  Ti'i(joni(i  anijulicost.a,  Idonearca  littlei, 
Ti'iijonar-'d  cunedtit,  Ostrea  h'tflei^  O.  exogyrelld  ;  and  from  Alabama, 
Idoncdrcd  dldbdnie/ifnis,  and   ycithen  covip/exiconfa. 

J.  W.  Sponeei-;];  examined  the  eoiintiy  l)et\veen  the  lT[)[)er  Assine- 
boine  river  and  lakes  Winnipeuosis  and  Manitoba,  and  found  I'oeks  of 
Crataeeous  ago  on  '!  huiider  Hill,  at  a  height  of  nearly  800  feet  above 
Swan  lake.  Following  the  eoursc  of  Swan  river  below  Thunder  Hill, 
there  are  numerous  ex[j()sures  of  these  roeks  for  about  thirty  miles, 
which,  with  those  of  Thunder  Hill,  furnish  a  thickness  of  from  550  to 
050  feet.  There  are  also  numerous  exposures  along  the  Bell  river  in 
the  Porcupine  niountains.  Thej'  repose  on  rocks  of  Devonian  age. 
Mr.  G.  iN[.  Dawson,  from  the  calcareous  character,  the  microscopic 
forms,  and  the  presence  of  Tnocerdjuus  and  Ontrea  comjestd,  referred 
the  rocks  to  tlie  Niobrara  Group. 

Prof.  J.  F.  Whiteaves^  described,  from  the  Cretaceous  of  the  Queen 
Charlotte  Islands,  A)nmoin'fc!< j)ert::idniis,  A.  lo<iatianKs,  A.  richardsoni, 
A.  sk}de(jdlcasis,  A.  cai'lottem:ix,  A.  Idpcron.sidniis,  A.  Jillcinctns,  A. 
(M'enocostdliin,  Amaiiropsis  tenuistriatd,  Pleurotomdria  s/cidef/dtctmiti, 
Mdi'fesid  cdi'fniferd,  Pfet/romya  cdrloffenst's,  Pholodomya  ovaloides, 
Ca/lista  sHbtn'fjond,  Trif/oiii'd  diccrsicostatd,  3Ielea(/riiia  nmygdn- 
lolded,  and  Siincijcloncnid  meekdiunn. 

Prof.  E.  D.  C()pe||  described,  fiom  the  Judith  River  Group  of  Montana, 
Aiiblysodoii  /dtei'dlis,  Ld'ldps  lucrftsaatus^  L.  cxpldnatas,  L.  falcahix. 


'■■  CiirroU  to  Yellow  Stone  Nat.  Park, 

t  Pi-oc.  Aciul.  Nut.  Sd. 

t ''   .),  Sur.  ofCiiniula.lSTG. 

'i  Me^•ozoi^;  Fos.s.,  Ft.  1. 

II  Proc.  Acad.  Nut.  Sci. 


Jfcsuzoic  end  Cwnozoic  Geoloffi/  and  Pala'anfo/oyi/,  12*.i 


Dyxgoni/i  encnihyfus,  D.  hdi/den'nuis,  D.  biccruidftis,  D.  /lenjanus', 
Dicloiuiis  /»G)itti(fonus,  D.  peffoit/ii/afiis,  D.  rdlavKirii's,  Monoclorius 
cransus,  /'(ii'oni/chodon  /aai'sh'i.s,  ('o)iij>sfiiHys  t'liihrirdn'ns,  C.  rto'iolosKs, 
Poli/f/iorax  m/'ss'onn'eiisis',  II c.dronrhns  sfenificrtfi,  Ceratodiis  erifci- 
ferns,  V.  ht'erof/Iijp/tihs^  Mi/lc<h(pfu(s  hiparfiJi(s,  Lchtps  hazennnnny  L. 
Iwju'frons,  Zapsnh'n  ahradcns,  ('/law/tsDsauri's  profundus,  ('.  minecten", 
'''.  brer  Iced  I  is,  (J.  vac^insdlensis,  S(:<(/)fierp(;ton  exclsnm,  S,  ftrvosam, 
S.  lafiroVc,  S.  tertaiii,  and  Ilcinifrijinis  JordfOKinns  ;  and  from  the 
Fox  Hills  Group,  of  .>[oiit;in:i,  Uri>ni(nfiis  cetlfarniis. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Marsh*  described,  from  the  ui)pin' Crotacooiis  of  Western 
Kansas,  Ichtkiiornis  vir.for,  Jli'.sperornh  ijracih's,  Lestornis  drns.sipes, 
Pferonodqn  compfAis,  P.  in(jcns,  P.  fontficeps,  P.  occidentalfs,  P.  relax, 
and  P.  (jrucUis,  now  yi/cfos(iiirn.s  i/r((ciJis. 

In  1877,  Arnold  Hagiief  estimated  the  thickness  of  the  Cretaceous 
on  the  outl^'ing  ridi^es  and  foot-hills,  east  of  the  Colorado  range,  as 
follows:  Dakota  Group,  :?00  feet;  Colora(U)  Gi-oup,  1,000  feet-  Fox- 
Hills  Gi'oup,  1,500  feet;  and  Laramie  Groui),  1,500  feet. 

The  Dakota  beds  arc  essentially  a  sandstone  formation,  and  as  they 
lire  usual!}'  hard  and  compact,  frequently  almost  a  quartzite,  the}'  form 
a  wcU-delined  horizon.  Lying-  between  the  easily-eroded  Jurassic 
marls  and  clays  below,  and  the  overl^'ing  blue  shales,  clays  and  crumb- 
ling rocks  of  the  Colorado  Group  above,  the  Dakota  beds  are  usually  a 
consi)icuous  feature  in  the  ridges,  which  form  the  foot-hills  of  the  mnin 
range.  In  api)roaching  the  mountains  from  the  Great  Plains,  the 
Dakota  beds  are  especially  prominent,  as  they  form  the  outlying  mem- 
ber of  the  series  of  upturned  sedimentary  beds,  whicih  risG  so  abruptly 
above  the  plain;  for  although  the  overlying  Colorado  group  is  pei'fectly 
conformable,  tiiey  never  occur  high  up  on  the  long  ridges,  which  form 
a  sort  of  barrier  between  the  Ict'cl  countr}'  and  the  mountain  region 
be^'ond. 

The  Colorado  Group  is  used  to  represent  the  Fort  lienton,  Niobrara, 
and  Fort  Pierre  Groui)s.  The  Fort  Benton  Group  is  onl}'  exposed  along 
the  base  of  the  abrupt  ridges,  and  consists  of  dark,  plastic  clays,  at 
times  distinctl}'  bedded,  and  fre(inently  occurring  as  thinly-'aminated 
paper  shales.  The  lower  beds  are  always  more  or  less  arenaceous,  with 
int(!rstratifi»!d  beds  of  purer  clay,  while  the  upper  beds  sometimes  carry 
thin  seams  of  argillaceous  limestone,  which,  in  man}'  places,  can  not  bo 


distinguished  from  similar  beds  in  the  Niobrara. 


Along  the  Laramie 


'■'  Am.  .Jour.  Si'i.  and  Arts,  3d  Scr.,  vol.  .\i. 
t  Ueo.  Sur.  40th  parallel. 


i:ui 


Crefnceovs. 


I 


Hills,  this  group  is  somewhat  difficult  to  rocognize,  but  in  Colorado  it 
may  bo  traced  for  long  distances  in  well  defniod  north  and  south  linos. 

The  Niobrara  Groui),  although  much  thinner,  is  more  easily  recog- 
nized. It  frequently  blends  so  completely  with  the  overlying  Fort 
Pierre  Groui)  that  it  is  extremely  diflicult  to  sej^arate  them. 

The  Fox' Hills  Group,  east  of  the  Colorado  Kange,  is  characterized 
throughout  by  great  uniformity  in  texture  and  physical  habit,  and  con- 
sists of  a  coarse  sandstone  formation,  sliowing  only  variations  in  color 
from  ro(Ulish  brown  to  reddish  yellow.  The  strata  pass  by  imperceptible 
gradations,  into  the  Laramie  series,  ottering^  no  »vcll -de lined  line  of 
separation,  both  formations  from  top  to  bottom  consisting  of  coarse 
sandstone.  The  Laramie  Group  may  be  traced  along  the  Big  Thomp- 
son and  Cache  la,  Poudre  valleys,  and  then  eastward  up  the  valleys  of 
the  northern  tributaries  to  the  South  Platte.  The  sandstones  form  the 
exposed  banlcs  along.  Crow  and  Lone  Tree  creeks,  and  may  by  traced 
northward,  passing  under  the  Tertiary  of  Ciialk  BluHs.  This  group 
includes  the  valuable  coal  deposits  at  Erie,  and  the  ^Marshall  and 
Murpli}'  mines,  north  of  Golden,  extending  from  within  one-half  mile  of 
the  base  of  the  range  far  out  upon  tlie  plains  into  Eastern  Colorado. 

The  Laramie  beds  form  the  uppermost  members  of  the  great  series 
of  conformal>le  strata  that  lie  upturned  against  the  Archaean  mass  of 
the  Rocky  mountains;  all  ovei'lying  strata  resting  unconformably  upon 
the  older  rocks. 

The  Cretaceous  locks  are  distributed  over  the  surface  of  the  Laramie 
Phiins.  On  Rock  creek,  a  branch  of  Medicine  Bow  rivei-,  north  of  the 
Little  Laramie,  and  near  Rock  Creek  Station,  tiie  Fort  Benton  Group  is 
exposed  from  ;]50.to  400  feet  in  thickness.  In  the  Norih  Park,  the 
Dakota  Group  is  estimated  at  3r)0  feet  in  thickness,  and  here  the  Fort 
Benton.  NioI)rara  and  Fort  Pierre  Groups  have  a  combined  thickness 
rougldy  estimated  at  from  1,500  to  2,000  I'eet. 

The  Medicine  Bow  river,  after  leaving  the  mountains,  runs  almost 
exchjslvely  through  beds  of  Cretaceous  age.  its  course  being  guided  by 
the  clays  and  marls,  and  the  overlying  Fox  Hills  sandstone. 

On  the  northern  slopes  of  Elk  Alountain,  tiie  most  northern  point  of 
the  ^ledicineBow  Ranae,  are  found  all  the  beds  from  the  coal  measures 
to  the  Fox  Hills  sandstone,  uplifted  at  Ifigli  angles,  lying  against  the 
Archaean  formation.  All  the  geological  divisions  are  well  represented. 
In  the  valley  of  the  North  Platte  river  the  Fox  Hills  Group  has  an  esti 
mated  thickness  of  between  ;5,000  and  4.000  feet. 

The  strata  containing  the  coal  beds,  at  thetown  of  Carbon,  f)56  miles 
west  of  Omaha,  Mr.  Hague  supposed  to  be  Upper  Cretaceous. 


m 


Mesozoic  and  deaozuic  Geology  and  Piilmoiftohxjy. 


i:u 


S.  F.  Eimiions,*  geologist  of  tlio  division  west  of  North  Phitli".  suiil 
that  Bridger's  Priss,  wliicli  t'onnocts  tlio  vnlU'ys  of  tlio  rppi'V  Stige 
cTcek  and  the  sonth  fork  of  the  Little  ]Mnddy,  liiis  been  eroded  out  of 
the  soft  beds  of  theColortidoCretiieeous.  Along  the  northern  and  western 
borders  of  this  valley  extends  a  ridge  of  white  massive  sandstones 
of  the  Fox  Hills  Group,  standing  at  angles  of  ](>°  to  ^f)*^,  and  curving 
in  strike  approximately  with  tlie  shape  of  the  ridge.  To  the  north  of 
the  gap,  they  f(»rin  aeontinuous  ridge  about  1")  miles  in  length,  showing 
a  bluff  face  to  the  southwest  toward  liridger's  Pass,  at  the  base  of 
which  are  exposed  the  clayc  beds  of  tlie  Colorado  Group.  A  thick- 
ness of  3,000  to  4,00'^  feet  of  heavy-bedded  sandstones,  mostly  white 
and  butf,  with  a  few  includ(Ml  beds  of  shale,  and  some  thin  seams  of  coal, 
dipi)ing  to  the  northward  at  an  angle  of  10°  to  20°,  is  ex])osed. 

Tn  going  northward  from  a  point  on  the  Little  Mudd)'.  about  five 
miles  west  of  the  Sulphur  Springs,  a  thickness  v)f  between  3,000  and  4,000 
feet  of  beds  of  the  Laramie  Group,  di[>ping  northwest  at  an  angle  of 
20°,  is  crossed.  Of  these,  the  lower  2,000  feet  are  composed  of  massive 
white  and  yellow  sandstones,  in  which  the  shale  beds  are  of  subordinate 
importance.  The  up[)or  sandstones  are  stained  and  stripe  ^.  in  red,  by 
iron  oxide,  ami  form  ridges  with  considerable  clayey  valleys  between. 
In  the  upper  800  feet  are  several  coal  seams,  and  near  the  top  is  a 
pi'ominent  bed  of  bright  vermilion  color,  only  a  lew  feet  in  thickness,  of 
line-grained,  hard,  argillaceous  material,  abounding  in  well  j)i'eserv(!d 
impressions  of  leaves.  This  is  overlaid  by  a  white  sandstone,  about 
200  feet  in  thickness,  carrying  a  coal  seam,  which  in  turn  is  capped  by 
a  thin-bedded  brown  sandstone,  which  weathers  into  flags  about  three 
inches  in  thickness;  the  dip  of  these  upper  beds  has  shallowed  to  10°, 
and  to  the  north  the  beds  of  the  Laramie  Group  ai'e  practically- 
horizontal. 

The  exposures  of  the  Fox  Hills  Group,  as  seen  in  Bear  Ridge,  near 
the  valley  of  the  Upper  Tampa  river,  show  a  series  of  massive,  white, 
fine-grained  sandstones  of  several  thousand  feet  in  thickness. 

The  Cretaceous  of  the  Uinta  Mountain  region  consists  of  over 
10,000  feet  of  beds  of  sandstones  and  clays,  carrying  coal  seams,which 
are  most  abundant  in  the  upper  part  of  the  scries.  The  Dakota  Groui) 
consists  of  about  500  feet  of  rather  thinly-bedded  sandstones,  with 
some  cla}-  beds,  having  at  its  base  the  persistent  conglomerate  carry- 
ing small  pebbles  of  black  chert.  The  Colorado  Group,  about  2,000 
feet  in  thickness,  is   made  up  mostly  of  clays  and  3'ellow  marls,,  with 


I 


*  Geo.  Sur.  Wth  iiarallel. 


f'!  ir^ 


1:51' 


Cretaceous. 


^v 

'% 


some  sandstones  jit  llie  base,  whieli  inclose  one  prominent  coal-seam; 
the  outcroi)s  of  this  groni)  are  generally  oecnpied  b}-  valleys.  The  Fox 
Hills  Group  consists  of  about  3,000  feet  of  lu-avily-ljedded  white 
sandstones,  with  a  few  coal-seinns  and  ('(»mi)!iriitively  little  clay.  The 
Laramie  Group,  whose  actual  thickriess  is  not  dellnitiily  ascertiiined, 
consists  also  of  gray  and  white  sandstones,  often  iron-stained,  contain- 
ing a  greater  develoi)ment  of  clay  beds,  and  very  rich  in  coid  seams. 
It  is  ovfcrlaid  by  an  unconformable  series  of  beds.  The  fauna  of  this 
group  is  brnckish,  and,  locally,  even  fresh  watei'  forms  are  found  asso- 
ciated with  marine  types. 

In  the  valley  of  l^itter  creek,  the  Fox  Hills  Group  is  estimated  at 
3,000  feet  in  thickness,  and  the  Larawiie  at  G,0()0  feet.  The  latter  is 
characterized  by  the  greater  development  of  clayc}'  beds,  and  hy  the 
great  number  of  coal  seams,  and  by  the  j>resence  of  great  quantities 
of  leaves  and  plant  remains,  especially  in  the  ui)i)(n-  })ortion  of  the 
series.  The  beds  are  conformable,  and  were  evidently  deposited  prior 
to  the  great  period  of  plication  and  uplift  in  which  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains and  the  Uinta  and  Wahsatch  ranges  received  their  main 
elevation. 

West  of  Bear  River  City,  in  I'tah,  along  the  face  of  the  hills  north 
of  Sulphur  creek,  are  exi)Osed  outcrops  of  the  Fox  Hills  and  liarainie 
Groui)s,  from  5,000  to  7,000  feet  in  thickness,  standing  at  angles  of  85*^ 
to  90°  west,  and  striking  north  30°  to  45°  east,  and  consisting  of 
heav}'  white  sandstones  with  conglomerate  beds,  and  passing  to  the 
westward  into  reddish  lirown  sandstones.  The  beds  of  the  Colorado 
Group  west  of  the  sandstone  ridge,  at  the  bend  of  Sid[)hur  ci-eek, 
expose  a  thickness  not  less  than  5,000  or  0,000  feet.  About  two  miles 
west  of  Bear  River.  City,  a  railroad-cut,  through  a  low  ridge  running 
out  from  the  high  ground  forming  the  northeastern  wall  of  the  Suli)hur 
Creek  Valley,  shows  a  section  of  about  150  feet  of  beds,  separated  by 
an  interval,  bare  of  outcrops,  from  the  sandstones  west  of  Bear  River 
City,  but  corresponding  with  them  in  strike,  and  standing  with  an  incli- 
nation of  70°  to  80°  to  the  southeast.  It  is  formed  of  sandstones,  inarls 
and  clays,  with  a  few  bituminous  and  gypsiferous  seams,  and  is 
remarkable  for  the  fine  definition  of  its  bedding-lines,  the  strata 
varying  from  half  an  inch  up  to  a  foot  or  more  in  thickness.  The  strata 
abound  in  fossils  of  fresh  and  brackish  water  t^-pes,  viz.:  f/i/o,  Cor- 
hvla,  Ltmnaea,  (Janipelomn,  V/cipnrifs^ctc.  They  evidently  belong  to 
the  conformable  beds  of  the  Laramie  Group,  and  are  overlaid  a  short 
distance  to  the  north  by  horizontal  strata  of  the  Vermilion  creek 
Eocene. 


3fesozoic  (I lid  Canozoic   GeoUxjij  and   Pttlaoiifd/orjij.  \',','.\ 

G.  K.  Gilbert*  Ibuiicl  tlic  Cretaceous  strata  well  displaced  upon  the 
Hanks  of  the  Henry  Mountains,  in  Soutliern  Utali,  where  tliey  consist 
of  I'our  priiu'ii)al  sandstones,  with  intervening  shales,  and  have  a  thick- 
ness of  ;),r)0()  feet.  They  also  contain  thin  l)eds  of  coal,  one  of  which 
was  objjerved  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Kllen,  four  feet  in  thickness.  The 
lower  500  feet  he  rel'erred  to  the  Henry's  Foik  Group. 

Dr.  A.  C.  Peale,f  geologist  of  the  Grand  river  division,  said  that 
the  massive,  yellow  silicioiis  sandstone,  in  some  places  quartzite,  at  tlie 
base  of  the  Cretaceous,  is  so  well  defined  lithologically,  that  there  has 
never  been  any  dillicidtv  in  separating  it  from  the  overlying  shales. 
Along  tlie  edge  of  the  i)laius  in  Colorado,  it  is  underlaid  bj'  greenish 
shaly  beds,  sometimes  lignitic  near  the  top,  generally  in  part  or  wholly 
covered,  which  have  always  been  referred  to  the  ui)per  part  of  the 
Jurassic,  In  the  West  these  shaly  beds  still  persist,  and  the  mtissive 
sandstone,  although  still  recognizable  without  dilliculty,  is  much 
thinner,  being  only  from  50  to  100  feet,  and  as  we  desicend,  in  the  sec- 
tions carried  bcjlow,  we  find  othei'  beds  of  siiicious  sandstone  separated 
by  shaly  beds  that  are  arenaceous,  calcareous  and  argillaceous.  In 
these  beds,  in  1874,  he  found  a  sassafras-leaf,  which  led  him  to  refer 
them  to  the  Lower  Cretaceous.  lie  drew  an  arbitrary  line  sei)arating 
the  Cretaceous  and  Jurassic.  The  beds  below  have  the  same  lithologi- 
cal  characters  to  the  top  of  the  red  beds,  with  this  exception,  that 
limestones  occur  more  frequently  toward  tiie  base.  In  Arizona,  G.  K. 
Gilbei't  found  Jurassic  and  Cretaceous  fossils,  associated  in  beds,  re- 
send)ling  those  usually  leferred  to  the  Jurassic.  He  is  of  the  opinion 
that  we  can  not  draw  any  line  between  the  two  formations,  paheontolo- 
gically,  or  lithologically,  but  for  convenience  in  description  it  is  best 
to  draw  an  arbitraiy  line,  which  may  be  changed  as  we  obtain  more 
facts  in  relation  to  the  formation. 

There  is  a  narrow  outcrop  of  the  Dakota  Group  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Gunnison,  above  the  Grand  Canon,  between  the  breccia  and  the 
granite.  It  appears,  and  .is  faulted,  at  the  head  of  the  Uncompahgre 
river  and  on  Dallas  Fork,  the  latter  stream  lowing  on  the  line  of  the 
fault.  Between  this  creek  and  the  San  Juan  Mountains  it  rises  until 
it  reaches  the  summit  of  the  foot  hills,  appearing  from  beneath  the 
shales.  On  the  Uncompahgre  plateau,  it  dips  gently  to  the  eastward, 
and  is  the  surface  formation  until  we  approach  Escalante  creek.  Be- 
tween  the   latter    and    Roubideau's    ci'eek,   there  are  some   isolated 


•■  Kep.  on  'the  <ieo.  Henry  Mountiiins. 

f 'Jtli  Rep,  Hiiydeu'B  17,  S,  Geo.  Sur,  Terr. 


m 


i 


it" 


lU 


Ci'cfaceoos. 


h 

1:1 
1] 


'A 


i 


p!it(!lies  of  it.  It  is  found  along  tlie  western  side  of  tlie  Gunnison  and 
forms  the  Hoor  of  the  S.an  IMiguel  pluteau.  Going  nortli  on  the  San 
Miguel  plateau,  we  find  the  massive  sandstones  of  the  Dakota  Gi'oup 
broken,  and  forming  the  tops  of  mesas  between  the  streams  rising  in 
the  Uneompahgre  plateau  and  flowing  into  the  San  INIiguel  ant^Dolores 
rivers.  Still  further  north  it  disappears  altogether,  until  we  ajjproach 
Grand  river,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Dolores. 

In  the  Uneomi)aligre  valley,  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  until  the 
canon  is  reaehed,  there  are  exposures  of  the  Fort  Benton  and  Niolyrara 
Groups.  East  of  the  Uneompahgre  Agency  the  thickness  of  the  beds 
is  about  3,000  feet. 

F.  31.  I^vudlich,  geologist  of  the  southeastern  division,  found  the 
Dakota  Group  in  the  San  Juan  region  forming  a  ridge  parallel  with 
the  Piedra  river,  and  having  a  thickness  of  more  than  1,000  feet.  He 
also  discussed  the  age  of  the  Lignitic  Group  of  the  Trinidad  region, 
which  spreads  over  an  area  of  750  square  miles,  and  with  Prof.  Lesquer- 
eux  supposed  it  to  be  of  Tertiary  age. 

Dr.  B.  F.  Mudge*  said  the  Cretaceous  in  Kansas  covers  an  area  of  over 
•40,000  square  miles,  or  more  than  half  the  surface  of  the  State.  The 
Fort  Benton,  P'ort  Pierre  and  Fox  Hills  Groups  are  entirely  wanting. 
The  Dakota  Group  rests  upon  the  Permian,  and  is  succeeded  by  the 
Niobrara  Group. 

The  average  width  of  the  Dakota  is  less  than  50  miles,  being  some- 
what less  than  that  in  the  north  part  of  the  State,  and  more  on  the 
Smoky  and  Arkansas  rivers.  The  dip  is  to  the  northwest,  and  very 
sliiiht.  It  is  conformable  to  the  formation  above  it,  and  has  a  max- 
imum  thickness  of  ab«ut  500  feet. 

The  Niobrara  Group  occupie*^'  a  belt  of  country  about  30  miles  in 
width,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  but  gradually  widens  to  more 
than  <^.wice  that  extent  in  the  Smoky  Hill  valley.  The  upper  part  is 
comi)Osed  of  chalk  juid  chalky  shales,  the  lower  part  which  is  called 
the  Fort  Hays  Group,  consists  in  its  higher  strata  of  heavy  bedded 
limestone,  under  which  is  a  friable,  bluish  black,  or  slate  colored  shale? 
which  abounds  in  concretions  or  septaria,  of  all  sizes,  from  one  inch  to 
six  feet  in  diameter.  The  body  of  the  concretions  is  of  hard  cla^'- 
marl,  with  cracks  lined  with  beautiful  crystals  of  calc  spar.  The  lower 
part  has  a  thickness  of  260  feet,  and  the  upper  part  of  200  feet,  making 
the  total  thickness  400  feet.     It  is  succeeded  b^^   strata   of  Pliocene 


age. 


♦  9th  i:ep.  llayclun'8  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  rerr. 


Mesozoic  oiifJ  Civvozoic  Geology  and  Paht'onfolof/y.  Hi') 

Alfred  R.  f,\  St'hvvn*  explored  the  eoiiii try  north  and  northeast  of 
Fort  George  near  the  aitli  purallel.  The  exploration  wan  almost  wholly 
within  the  Arctie  watershed,  and  the  hasin  of  Peace  river.  From  "The 
Fork" — Smoky  river — up  to  Dnnve^an,  and  thenco  to  about  five  miles 
l)elow  Iltidson's  Hope,  the  rocks  which  arc  exposed  along  Peace  riv(!r 
are  inesozoic;  they  consist  of  dark,  earthy  shales,  in  parts  charactcr- 
i/ced  i)y  numerous  bunds  and  septarian  nodules  of  clay  iron- 
stone, many  of  which  inclose  large  Avniionites,  and  they  are  also 
associated  with  sandy  calcareous  layers,  holding  other  Cretaceous 
fossils,  among  which  a  species  of  Inoceramus  is  tolerably 
abundant,  while  in  the  dark  argillaceous  shales  the  scales  of  fishes 
are  frequently  observed.  Descending  Peace  river,  these  dark 
shales  are  first  seen  ivt  about  six  miles  below  Hudson's  Hope.  They 
are  nearly  or  quite  horizontal,  and  are  exj)osed  at  intervals  between 
this  point  and  Fort  St.  John,  in  cliffs  which  I'ise  almost  perpendicu- 
larly from  the  water  to  heights  of  50  or  100  feet.  Near  where  the}'  are 
first  seen,  tlie  hills  at  a  little  distance  back  rise  to  500  or  GOO  feet,  and 
toward  their  summits  present  cliffs  in  which  some  thick  beds  of  brown 
line-grained  sandstone  crop  out.  About  a  mile  l)elow  St.  John,  on  the 
left  bank,  a  section  is  exposed  nearly  700  feet  in  thickness.  These 
rocks  are  exi>osed  at  intervals  down  to  The  Fork,  and  also  on  Smoky 
and  Pine  rivers.  On  the  latter  stream  the  exposed  thickness  is  esti- 
mated at  1,700  feet,  and  contains  four  thin  seams  of  bituminous  coal. 

Prof.  George  ^I.  Dawson,  who  explored  the  country  between  the  o2d 
and  54th  parallels,  in  British  Columbia,  found  the  equivalent  of  the 
Shasta  Group  in  the  vicinit}'  of  Tatia\'oco  lake.  Along  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  lake  these  I'ocks  overlie  those  of  the  porphyrite  series. 
The}'  dip  eastward,  or  away  from  tlie  anticlinal  axis,  in  which  the  Irke 
lies,  and  form,  at  a  short  distance  from  its  eastern  margin,  a  rampart- 
like wall  of  mountains,  from  2,000  to  3,000  feet  high,  and  twelve  miles 
in  length.  The  rocks  are  compact,  l)luish-gray  quartzites,  or  hard  sand- 
stones, and  conglomerates  of  all  grades  in  regard  to  size  of  particles, 
associated  with  blackish  or  dark  colored  slaty  and  shaly  beds,  which 
recur  frequently  at  dilfei'ent  horizons.  The  thickness  of  the  entire 
Cretaceous  series  on  the  east  side  of  Tatlayoco  lake  is  estimated  at 
7,000  feet.  Their  geographical  extension  is  also  great.  He  regarded 
the  Jackass  Mountain  Group  as  the  eciuivalent  of  the  Shasta  Group 
of  California. 


•'■'  Geo.  Sur.  of  Canatln. 


136 


Crefdreoim. 


M 


m 


% 


Prot.  E.  D.  Copo*  callod  tlic  Juditii  Rivor  ( Jroiip  No.  6  Cretiiceous. 
He  showed  its  conlbnn.'ibility  with  tlu!  underlying  inaiine  Cretyceous, 
and  gave  a  section  ;]:)2  feet  in  thickness,  though  its  nijjxinimn  is  not 
less  than  oOO  feet.     His  section  in  ascending  order  is  as  follows: 


Arenaceous  marl  (with  Dinosaurian  bones  near  the  top).  .  .  .  12') 

'  Sandstone,  1st   «'> 

Sandstone fi 

Impure  lignite 2 

Sandstone,    2d 10 

Impure  lignite 4 

U)t/o   bed 30 

Kusty  sandstone  (with  fresh  water  shells)    25 

Arenaceous  marl  (with  petrified  wood) 50 

Sandstone,   .*kl   15 

Marl 20 

Reddish   shale 10 

Lignite 5 

.Shale 7 

Black  shale  and  lignite 3J 

Bed  of  Osfrea  subfr/ffonal/'s   15 


3 
B 

X 


teet. 

(( 

u 
ii 
(I 
(.' 
ii, 
u 

Ci 

a 
a 
a 
a 


Total 332^  feet. 

The  presence  of  Dinosaurians,  gar  fishes,  turtles,  Physn,  i-^lnparus 
and  Unio  prove  the  fresh  water  character  of  the  strata,  while  the 
Ostrea  indicates  a  return  to  brackish  water. 

Dr.  C.  A.  Whitej  described,  from  the  Judith  River  Group  at  Gov*' 
Island  and  Dog  creek,  a  tribu'tary  of  the  Upper  Missouri  river,  in 
Montana  Territory,  Unio  cryptorhynchus,  JJ.  senechis'^  U.  primaevus, 
Anodonta  propnforis,  Bulrnus  dJavus,  and  Physa  ropel. 

Prof.  F.  1>.  Meek;];  described,  from  near  Laporte,  Golorado,  Anomia 
rcRtiformis;  from  East  Ganon  oreek,  Wasatch  Range,  Utah,  Cucnllma 
obl/.qiia,  Jlactra  emnionHi;  from  Goojjer  creek,  Laramie  Plains, 
Wyoming,  Axmcua  Wyoming  ens  is;  from  Red  creek,  Uinta  Mountains, 
Utah,  3Iactra  orenoria;  from  East  Ganon  creek,  U^tah,  Mactra  utah- 
ensi's^  Tellina  isonema,  T.  modesta,  Gyrodes  depressa,  and  Anchnra 
fusiformis. 

Prof.  G.  A,  VVhite§  described,  i'rom  east  of  Impracticable  Ridge, 
Utah,    Osfrea  prudentio;  from   near    Pueblo,  Golorado,   Inoceramus 


*  BuH  U.  S.  Geo.  Siir.,  Vol.  3.,  No.  3. 
f  Bull  U.  S.  Geo.  Siir.,  Vol.  3.,  No.  8. 
t  U.  S.  Geo.  Expl.,  40tli  parallel. 
?  Wheeler's  Sur.  W.  100th  Mer.,  Vol.  4. 


\     '4^ 


Mesozoic  nn<f  Caniozoic  Geoloi///  and  I'dhfonlolixju. 


VM 


{l(icci(li(.s\  J[f(('/ra  incotitjifji;  from  i\w.  Iiio  Piierco,  New  Mcxiro,  Tdo- 
tieiircit  depvessn;  IVoiu  ^rouiit  Taylctr,  Nt!\v  ALoxico,  Li.spodesf/ies  lin- 
]iul!f(')'(i;  from  Ojo  do  los  Cnorviis,  New  Afoxii-o,  Aminonifes  laeiu'(iiius; 
from  Piiriii,  I'tiili,  Ileh'coecvfis  jxirt'ensey  jiiul  Serjm/d  intrlco. 

Prof  E.  D.  Copo*  (loscrihod,  from  tlic;  Fort  Picrro  flroiij)  of  ICjinsas, 
Peli/coi'tiitis  bar !i<' inns;  and  from  tlu;  Niobrara  ("Iroiip  of  the  I'ppor 
Missouri,  Ehismosanrns  sei'itenfinuit,  and  Anoijmiufi  nrafus. 

Prof.  O.  (X  Mar.shf  describod,  from  West  Kivwsiih,  Bnpfornis  ndvenus; 
from  Texas,  Gracu/nrnH  lenfns^  D/plottnnrns  fe/i.r;  from  the  Rocky 
^rountain  region,  Nanosnnrus  (Kjilix,  N.  vicfor,  Apafodon  minis  :  and 
from  the  Dakota  CTrou[)  of  C(»lorado,  Tlhinosanras  monfdnus. 

In  1878,  Prof.  ( '.  A.  WliiteJ;  surveyed  a  portion  of  Northwestern 
C!olorado,  and  found  the  Dakota  Group  reai'hin»>-  an  aggregate  thick- 
ness of  between  HOO  and  000  feet;  tiic  lower  half  consisting  of  a  dark- 
colored,  coarse,  silici<Mis,  pebble-conglomerate,  which  is  somewhat 
irregularly  bedded  and  easily  disintcurated;  and  the  up[)er  portion, 
consisting  of  a  yellowish  or  brownish,  rough,  heavy-bedded  sandstone, 
l:\^tween  which  and  the  conglomerate  some  variegated  bad-land  sand-" 
stones  usually  exist. 

The  equivalent  of  the  Fort  Benton  and  Niobrara  Groups  he  called 
the  Colorado  Group,  which  is  also  the  equivalent  of  the  Sulphur  Creek 
Group,  lie  united,  under  the  name  of  the  Fox  Hills  Group,  both  the 
Fox  Hills  and  Fort  Pierre  Groups,  the  former  of  which  has  a  thickness 
of  1,000  feet,  and. the.  latter  of  800  feet.  The  strata  that  have  been 
called  by  the  name  of  the  Fort  Union  Group,  Lignitic  Group,  Bitter 
Creek  Group,  Judith  River  Group,  and  by  other  names,  including  the 
name  of  Laramie  Group,  proposed  b}'  Mr.  King,  he  proposed  to  call 
Post-Cretaceous.  The  thickness  of  this  group  in  Northwestern  Colo- 
rado is  at  least  3,500  feet. 

lie  described,  from  the  Laramie  Group,§  on  Crow  creek  and  Dan  forth 
Kills,  in  Northern  Colorado,  Vohella  rerjxdnris,  V.  laficosfafa,  J^ucu- 
fana  inchira,  Anodontn  paralleln,  Corbiruln  clehnrni,  C  cardinioe- 
formis,  0.  obesa,  C.  macropisfha^  Physa  fcli.r,  Vivipavus  2^^'>'dentia, 
Odontobasis  formosa;  from  Black  Buttes  Station,  Wyoming,  Unio 
goniambonnfus,  U.  aldrichi,  NeriUnn  bapfista;  from  Bear  river,  near 
the  confluence   of  Sulphur  creek,  Wyoming,  Acella  haldononi,  N'eri- 


*  Bull.  U.  S.  Geo    Sur.,  Vol.  3,  \o.  3. 
t  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  .Sd  Sor.,  Vol.  14. 
I  10th  Hop.  llayden's  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 
g  Bull.  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur..  V^ol.  4,  No.  3. 


^WT^ 


m 


Crcfdceoiifi. 


fina   11(1  ft  CI  form  is,    l^ltu'ftnrtin    coiicsl;    IVom    near    Evnnston,    Helix 
eva  ti  s  f  aliens  is  ^  and  fSoniolxisis  eiullichi. 

Prof.  Leo  LiisqiK^rciix*  (IcscrilxMl,  tVoin  the  Fort  Union  Group,  at 
Black  Htittcs,  Wyoniinir,  Scqiutia  acinninnhi,  Vitis  sparsa,  Orenu'opsis 
saportdiKi,  G.  fcnui folia,  Jifius  psciuhnnevia iil,  Podoiionlnm  omeri- 
canum,  Carpifes  iniji'irdrinnj'.  (jl atiuffonnis^C  mifrttl Ha,C .  verrnrosiis, 
C,  ribiirui,  C.  bio'str/onnis;  IVoni  Oohh'n  Soiitli  Mountain,  Colorado, 
SiahnJifcs  fr'iirfifer,  Pdhiiocdt'pon  (runcatiun,  J*,  com' f/ a  turn,  P.  snbcy- 
linth'icinn,  Popiihis  iintjeri,  lAiiirns  oroteoidcs.  VibtirniDii  auceps,  V. 
(loldianinn,V.  solit<triHiit,Ft'(ixi)nis  eocciiica,  (.'orniis  snborbifcra,  C'ar- 
pifcs oviformis,  C  triangnlosus,  C.  coslafus,  C.  coffd'formis,  (J.  rosfeUa- 
fufi,  C.  rhomboidfdis,  and  C.  rniirutii/i's  ;  from  the  divide  between  the 
sonrceof  Snake  river  and  Yellowstone  lake,  Geonomites  svhimperi;  from 
Raton  Mountains,  near  Fis(!her's  l*eak,  New  iVIexieo,  Gconomites  tenui- 
vfic/iis,  G.  nngeri ;  from  Castello's  Raneh,  near  South  Park,  Colorado, 
Fra^fiuus  broirnelli,  Saplndns  sf.elUiriti'foliKs;  fi-om  Florissant,  Cnrpites 
pcdlei ;  from  f^vanston,  Wyoini  ng,  Laimis  socia/is,  Carpites  hdiriiieiift, 
C.  utahcnsis  ;  from  Bridger's  Pass,  Wyojning,  Lanriis  iitchensiit; 
from  above  Spring  Canon,  near  Fort  Ellis,  ^(ontana,  Dombeyop- 
sis 2^l(ifanoides,  C'c/nstrinites  hwiyfitus;  from  Carbon,  Wyoming,  Gra- 
topjjus  (vquidentafii;  from  Fort  Steele,  Carpites  valvdfus,  and  from 
other  places,  Qiiercus  cinereoides. 

Mazyck  tv'  Vogdesf  described,  from  the  Cretaceous  beds  reached  in 
artesian  boring,  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  at  the  depth  of  1,880 
feet  below  the  surface,  Anomi<i  andersoni. 

In  1879,  F.  M.  Endlich;*;  described  the  Cretaceous  east  of  the  Wind 
River  range  in  Wyoming,  and  separated  it  in  ascending  order  into: 

1.  The  Dakota  Group,  consisting  cf  yellow  and  brown  shales,  ioter- 
stratilied  with  sand  stones  of  the  san»e  color.  In  the  shales,  a1)ove 
some  of  the  thin  beds  of  sandstone,  thci'e  are  slight  indications  of 
coal.  Tiie  seams  are  but  half  an  inch  thick,  and  the  coal  is  of  that 
variet\-  called  jet  coal.  Higher  up  the  sandstones  predominate, 
separated  by  thin  layers  of  homogeneous,  dark  shales.  Near  the  top 
there  is  a  heavy  bed  of  shale,  which  is  covered  by  massive  white, 
yellow  and  brown  sandstones.  A  small  thickness  of  arenaceous  shales 
closes  the  group.  This  is  the  general  section  of  the  Dakota,  as  exposed 
west  of  the  anticlinal  axis.     In  some    of  the  upper   sandstones  indis- 


♦Tt'i't.  Flovn.,  Vol.  7,  llnydcn's  Sur. 

fl'roc.  Acad.  Niit.  Sei. 

tilth  Ann.  liop.  I'.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 


|L    iMr. 


MeHozmc  and   Cd'nozoic   Qeoloijij   (tnd   Pdhroiifoltxji/, 


WW) 


tiiu't  roiiuviiiH  of  plants  occur,  iuul  in  the  liiyher  wluilew  u  Gri/ji/idd. 
Tlio  tliickiicss  is  about  JOO  Icct. 

•2.  Tlic  (Jolorsulo  Groiii),  consistin^j;  of  an  extensive  series  ol' dsirk 
i;ray,  slii^litly  eiileareons  sliiilcs.  Tlic}'  are  tliiiily  laininated,  easily 
eroded,  and  become  lii^iit  <i'i!ij  or  wiiite  npon  exposure.  Coverinj;'  tjje 
liii^iiest  portions  of  the  ret;i<)ii  lyinj,^  between  Sheep  Monntain  and  tiie 
base  of  the  third  chain,  tliey  present  comparatively  steep  bUiH's  par- 
allel t(»  their  strike,  and  rounded  surfaces  alonj;-  their  dip.  A  few  banks 
of  argilbiceoiis  limestone  may  l)e  found  within  them.  Within  the 
u|>per  tliird  the  shales  are  more  arenaceous  than  lower  down.  A  cold 
sulphur  spring  near  Camp  IJrown  seems  to  take  its  rise  in  these  shales 
which  must  be  regarded  as  a  vvvy  proliiic  source  for  alkaline  com- 
pounds of  a  highly  soluble  nature.  'Witliin  the  shales  tiiere  are  snuiU 
inclusions  of  i)yritc.  I'pon  dccomixisition  of  this  and  tlie  shales 
various  salts  are  formed.  The  thickness  of  this  group  is  about  GOO 
feet,  increasing  southerly  to  J)00  fecft. 

;j.  The  Fox  Hills  Group,  consisting  in  the  lower  [)art  of  brown  and 
yellow  shales,  interstratided  with  thin  beds  of  sandstone.  Some  of  the 
shales  are  very  dark  and  carl)onaceous.  Above  this  alternating  series 
there  is  a  considerable  thickness  of  yellow  and  brown  shales.  As  a 
rule,  they  are  arenacernis,  but  some  of  them  (piite  IVee  from  sand. 
Small  particles  of  mica  occur  throughout.  Higher  up,  sandstones  set 
in  again,  containing,  together  with  thin  seams  of  shales,  small  deposits 
of  coal.  The  upper  i)art  is  formed  b}'  thinly-bedded,  micaceous  and 
argillaceous  sandstones,  covered  by  a  thick  stratum  of  the  same 
material.     The  thickness  is  estimated  at  500  feet. 

About  two  miles  west  of  Cam[)  Brown,  a  xcvy  interesting  hot  spring 
occurs,  wi^ich  rises  in  the  beds  of  this  group.  It  is  kiiow-n  as  the  Hot 
Sulphur  Spring.  The  temi)erature  is  from  about  100°  to  llO*^,  and 
varies  but  little  with  the  weather.  The  bright  green  and  blue  water  is 
contained  within  an  elliptic  basin  1)15  feet  long  and  250  feet  wide.  A 
constant  bubbling  up  of  carbonic-acid  gas  gives  it  the  appearance  of 
boiling.  The  mineral  constituents  held  in  solution  by  the  water  are 
iron,  lime,  magnesia,  soda  and  potash.  They  seem  to  be  conttiined  in 
the  form  of  sulphates,  carbonates  and  chlorides.  The  heat  which  sup- 
plies the  warmth  of  the  water  is  supposed  to  be  due  to  chemical 
changes  going  on  within  the  strata  through  which  the  moisture  finds 
its  way.  A  petroleum  spring  also  occurs  near  Camp  Brown,  originating 
probably  in  tlie  same  rocks. 

The  Laramie  Group  consists  of  a  succession  of  shales  and  yellow 


140 


CrcfnceoiiH. 


hiindstont's,  forming  low,  lono-coiitiuiu'il  lilnlls.     Tlif  lliifkiu's.s  is  csti- 
iiiatnl  iit  400  foot. 

The  yellow  jind  whiti'  sjiudstoiics  of  the  Dnkotii  nroiip  oocur  in  the 
northern  portion  of  tlic  Swcotwutcr  nills.  Kasl  of  Kililiorn  (Jap  tlu'v 
arc  much  folih-cl  ami  jilicatcd.  In  U'iiis!<y  (iap,  the  strata  curve  around 
tlie  Western  l)ase  of  the  Seminole  Hills,  with  a  partiversal  dip,  and  a 
Hhort  distance  farther  west  they  taiie  [)art  in  an  anticlinal  upheaval. 
The  tliiekness  is  estimated  at  al)out  700  feet. 

The  Colora(h)  Group  occurs  also  near  KIkhorn  Gap,  and  in  Wliisky 
Gap.  At  tlie  lattc)-  place  th(^  shales  are  dark  gray,  llnely  laminated,  and 
have  .'I  thickness  of  (I'jO  to  TOO  feot. 

The  Fox  Mills  Group,  in  Whisky  (Jap.  forms  siiarp,  low  ridges,  par 
tlcipates  in  tlie  sti'atigraphical  disturbances,  and  lias  an  estimated 
thickness  of  1,(X)0  feet,  which  increases  toward  the  south.  Near  Salt 
Wells,  this  group  is  well  developed, and  occupies  a  i)rominent  [josition. 
A  valley  of  ap|)roximately  semicir(!ular  shape,  lies  directly  north  of 
the  I'ailroad,  bordered  l)v  steep  brown  bluffs  of  shales  and  sandstones 
of  this  group.  Dipping  olf  in  every  direction,  they  present  a  most 
typical  partiversal  airangement  of  the  strata.  Near  tlie  base,  they  .ire 
composed  of  thinly-beihled  sandstones.  Tliese  are  followed  by  yellow 
and  brown  shales,  more  or  less  arenaceous  and  micaceous.  Above  those 
there  is  a  succession  of  sandstones  and  shales,  containing  carb  -eous 
strata.     A  recess  in  the  bluffs  Is  caused  by  the  liigher  series  i  des. 

The  latto:  aio  covered  by  sandstone  strata  of  varying  thickness,  sep- 
arated from  eaci)  other  by  shales.  Some  good  coal  is  found  in  this 
horizon.  Near  the  to[),  massive  yellow  sandstones  are  overlaid  by  thin 
beds  of  shale  and  white  sandstone.  On  every  side  the  beds  are  con 
formably  overlaid  by  strata  of  the  Laramie  Group.  The  thickness  is 
from  1,200  to  1,.300  feet. 

The  Laramie  Group  has  a  widf;  distribution  in  the  southern  area  of 
this  territory.  On  the  west  side  of  the  anticlinal  it  can  be  traced  nearly 
to  Whisky  Gap,  and  probably  juts  against  the  granite  of  the  Sweet- 
water Mills.  From  the  stratigraphical  structure  of  the  entire  region  it 
is  ascertained  that  this  group  forms  a  basin,  upon  which  the  younger 
strata  are  conformable.  It  is  composed  of  sandstones,  shales,  marls, 
clays  and  coals.  Near  the  base,  heav}'  sandstones  set  in,  soon  super- 
seded, however,  by  shales.  These  contain  strata  of  sandstones  at  vary- 
inii"  intervals.  A  number  of  coal-beds  overlie  the  sandstones.  The 
coal  is  generally  covered  by  a  comparatively  thin  stratum  of  sandstone, 
upon  which  follow  clays,  shales  and  arenaceous   marls.      Higher  up  a 


IPP" 


M('S(r:(ti('   II nil   ('niin'jnir   fii'D/oi/i/   mnl    I'liliinnfn/oifi/. 


]\l 


MiU'ccKsioii  of  sMinlstoiios  is  intct'Mtrat iliol  with  sliiilc.  Sclciiilc  is  com- 
iiioii  ill  till'  sliiiic.  TIk!  Iii^licr  niciiiltcis  of  tlic  Ljiviiip  iirc  coinpo-.i'il  (»f' 
yi'liow  !iii<l  \vliil«>  siiinlHtiUM's,  coiitMiiiiiijj:  beds  of  ('(»!il.  .mihI  iIiiiU  ;iii(l 
of'tc'ii  (•!iil>()ii;it'('(>ns  Hlinl«'^.  SamlstdiicH  intMliiitc  tin;  triiiisitioii  iiilo  the 
lower 'rciti.'irv  Lfrotips.  Tlu'  lower  coiil-hori/.oii  is  the  most  prcMlm-tivo. 
The  tot.'il  tliickiicss  of  this  yroiip  west  ol"  Wtiwliiiu-^  Spiiiins,  and  from 
then'  northward,  is  estimated  at  IjKMi  feet. 

The  decomposition  of  pyrite  in  dumps  from  coal  liaiiUs.  pr(»diiees  a 
spontaneous  coml>iiHli(»ii  of  the  coal  which  chiUi^'cs  the  I'olor  oft  lie 
shales  to  a  lirilliaiit  vvA.  In  the  same  maiiiier  prohaldy  tlie<oal  at 
places  in  the  i)aiik  has  taken  lire  and  hiiriil  as  loiiji  as  the  "^npply  of 
oxyticn  could  sustain  a  llame.  Tliroimh  this  process  of  melaii.or 
phosis  I)v  hciit  the  overl\  iiiu'  beds.  coiitainiiiLi'  more  or  Ic^l*^  li\<lrated 
ferric  oxide,  were  changed  to  a  luiiiht  vermilion  <<»lor.  Sandstones 
occur,  the  I'liccs  and  ed^jies  of  whicdi  have  hei-n  literally  jrlazcd  by  the 
loiiLi'  continued  action  of  heat.  Frajj^meiits  ai'c  lirmly  l»aked  toiicther, 
and  resemble  cIndorH  from  a  furiiiice.  Purely  aruillaceous  shales 
and  clays  have  l)eeii  thorotinhly  fritte(|  ami  altere(l  into  vi^vy  hard, 
compact  p(U'celain  Jasper,  'riiroiiyhoiit  the  area  covered  by  the  Lar- 
aniie  (Iroiip,  and  in  some  of  the  Wasatch  beds  reil  coloretl  strata 
occur  which  have  been  jiroduced  b ,   these  causes. 

Dr.  A.  C.  Peale,*  estimated  the  thickness  of  the  Fiaraniie  Grouj)  on 
Smith's  I'V)rk,  .•md  in  the  Hear  Kiver  rciiion,  near  the  western  shore 
line  of  the  Wahsatch  lake,  at  5,000  feet. 

Geo.  M.  Dawson, f  explored  the  (hvtaceous  in  l>i'itisli  Columbia,  on 
the  headw.ateis  of  the  Skayit,  wi^st  ot  the  main  axis  of  the  ranjie. 
which  forms  the  watershed,  between  that  river  and  the  Similkameen. 
The  trail  traverses  the  area  in  a  j.reneral  northeast  direction  foi-  nearly 
thirteen  miles.  A  section  occurs  on  the  trail  immediately  east  of  the 
crossing  of  the  north  branch  of  the  Skai^it,  repi-esenting  a  thickness  of 
4,420  feet;  The  rocks  are  much  disturbed,  are  lying  at  all  angles  up 
to  vertical,  and  have  suffered  considerable  hardening  and  alteration. 
They  consist,  generally,  of  sandstones,  conglomerates  and  argillites. 

Still  further  north-westward,  from  the  vicinity  of  the  mouth  of  Ander- 
son river  and  Tioston  Bar,  they  were  found  to  extend,  in  a  long,  narrow 
trough,  nearl}'  coinciding,  in  the  main,  with  the  Frazer  river,  with  a 
general  bearing  of  about  N.  70°  W.,  to  the  vicinity  of  Lillooet  and 
Fountain,  a  distance  of  about  80  miles.     The  estimated  thickness  is 


■:•  lltli  Ann.  Itep.  l'.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Torr. 
V  (iuo.  Sur.  of  Clin. 


r  ■» 


"•^ 


142 


Crefaceons. 


5,000  foot,  Tlioy  were  also  roiiiul  on  tiio  Tlioiiipson,  l)el(»\v  its  junction 
Avitli  tlio  BoiuiiKirLe.  Tiie  thickness  on  Tathiyocc*,  220  miles  north- 
eastward from  Sivagit  vaUey  is  estimated  at  7,000  feet.  These  rocks 
are  regarded  as  of  the  same  age  as  the  Slmsta  Gron[)  of  California. 

Prof.  C.  A,  White*  described,  from  tlie  Fox  Hills  and  Fort  Pierre 
Group,  at  Cimarron,  New  Mexico,  Caryophnllia  johaiinis^  C.  eyeria, 
Cra.s.safclid  cimnrronensh;  from  Ililliard  Station,  U.  P.  K.  R.,  Wyo- 
ming. Placimopsis  /tilliardensi.s,  Nerltitui  iticonipta;  from  Coalville, 
Utah,  NerUinn  pafelliformis,  var.  veberensis;  from  INIonument  creek, 
near  Colorado  Springs,  Palinrns  2}e)it((nyt(lntiis;  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Saint  Vrains,  Northei-n  Colorado,  Barodo  suhelUpticc ,  Parhymya 
kersey  i,  Actneon  irnosteri,  A  ctaeonin((  2>roso(iheila ;^vo\Vi  west  of  Greeley, 
Colorado,  T'ltK-i'adid  coelionofAfs,  Ghjclmeris  berthondi  and  Anchi'ra 
ha !/ d e )i >';  fvom  the  Cretaceous,  at  Salado,  Bell  County,  Texas,  Exo<iyrn 
va/keri;  from  Dennison,  Texas,  Aiichcrn  iinuhjeana;  from  Ilelotes, 
IJexar  County,  Texas,  Turrit eUa  maraochi;  and  from  the  Cretaceous, 
at  tlie  head  of  Waterpocket  Canon,  Southern  Utah,  Cardium  trite. 

Hef  described,  from  the  Cretaceous,  on  Fossil  Creek, IG  miles  west  of 
Greeley,  and  0  miles  south  of  Fort  Collins,  Colorado,  Chetetes  [?) 
diiiu'ssiis,  and  BeanmontiK  (  ?)  solitarid. 

Prof  J.  F.  Whiteaves;];  described,  from  the  Cretaceous  rocks  of  the 
Sucia  Islands,  N'autlliis  snciensis^  Ammonites  seUvy nanus,  Surcula 
suciensis,  Cerithium  laUierianum,  var.  suciense,  Aviauropsis  Siiciensis, 
Cirsofrcma  tenuisculptam^  Stoniatia  suriensis^  Cimiliopsis  typica, 
Teredo  suciensis,  Linearia  suciensis,  Veniella  crassa,  Laevicardium 
suciense,  Inoceramus  cripsi,  var  suciensis;  from  Vancouver  Island, 
PtyrJwceras  vancouverense,  Opis  vancouverejisis,  Discina  vnnjouver- 
ensis,  Sniilotrochus  vancouverensis;  and  from  Hornby  Island  and 
Nanaimo  river,  Potamides  tenuis,  var.  nanaimoensis,  and  Periploma 
suhorbiculatinn. 

In  1880,  Prof.  C.  A.  White§  said  that  tlie  geographical  limits  of  the 
Laramie  Group  are  not  3-et  fully  known,  but  strata  bearing  its 
characteristic  invertebrate  fossils  have  been  found  at  various  localities 
within  a  great  area,  whose  northern  limit  is  within  the  British  Posses- 
sions, and  whose  southern  limit  is  not  further  north  than  Southern 
Utah  and  Northern  New  Mexico.  Its  western  limif,  so  far  as  known, 
ma^'  be  stated  as  approximately  upon  the  meridian  of  the  Wahsatch 


•■'•'  nth  Kcp.  llayden's  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  ToiT. 

t  Hull  r.  S.  Siir.,  Vol.  5,  Xo.  2. 

I  Mesozic  Koss.,  Part  2. 

<i  Cent,  to  Pal.  No.  4,  12th  Rep.  U.  S,  Geo.  Sur.  Teir. 


% 


Mesozoic  and  Ca)iozoic   Geology  and  PaUiontology. 


U\\ 


range  of  inoiintains,  but  extending  as  fai*  to  the  soiithwestward  as  the 
southwest  corner  of  Utah,  and  its  eastei-n  limit  is  far  out  on  the  great 
plains,  east  of  the  Kocky  Mount^iins,  vhere  it  is  covered  from  view  l)y 
hiter  fornuitions  and  tiie  prevailing  debris  of  the  plains.  Tiiese  limits 
indicate  for  the  ancient  Laramie  sea  a  length  of  aboiit  1.000  miles 
north  and  south,  and  a  maximum  width  of  not  less  than  500  juiles. 
Its  real  dimensions  were  no  doubt  greater  than  tliose  here  indicated, 
especially  its  leugtli;  and  we  may  safely  assume  that  this  great 
brackish-water  sea  had  an  area  of  not  less  than  500,000  square  miles. 
The  present  range  of  tiie  Rocky  Mountains,  which  has  ueen  entirel}' 
raised  as  a  mountain  range  since  the  close  of  the  Laramie  period, 
traverses  almost  the  entire  len<>th  of  this  irreat  area,  and  far  tlie 
greater  part  of  the  other  extensive  and  nu.merous  displacements  which 
the  strata  of  the  ditferent  i>eolo<iical  ayes  have  suflered  within  that 
great  area,  iiave  also  taken  place  sine  all  the  Laramie  strata  were 
deposited,  although  some  of  those  changes  thus  especially  referred  to 
began  before  the  close  of  the  Laramie  period. 

The  invertebrate  fauna  consists  almost  wholly  of  brackish-water, 
fresh-water  and  land  mollusca.  Species  belonging  to  all  three  of  cliese 
categories  are  often  found  commingled  in  tlie  same  strata,  Init  it  is 
also  often  the  case  that  Cv  "tain  strata,  sometimes  only  thin  layers, 
which  contain  the  fresh-water  and  land  molluscs  alternate  with  those 
which  contain  the  brackish-water  species.  All  the  s[)ecies  of  fresh- 
water and  land  mollusca  which  prevailed  during  the  Laramie  period, 
seem  to  have  ceased  with  the  disappearance  of  their  contemporary 
brackish-water  forms,  although  thc}'^  were  succeeded  by  other  fresh- 
water and  land  species. 

He  described  from  Point  of  Rocks'  station,  Bitter  ("^reek  valle3', 
Wycmiing,  Axinma  ho/ntesnna;  from  the  mouth  of  Sulphur  creek, 
Bear  river  valley,  Wyoming,  Rhytophonm  niaeki ;  from  the  Cretaceous 
of  Collin  county,  Texas,  Ostvea  blnrki,  Exoijyrc  x-inchelli,  Pterla 
(/)  stnbilitatis;  from  Bexar  county,  Texas,  Exogyra  forniculata; 
from  ]^»eil  county.  Texas,  Pachywya  coiiipacfa,  T/irac'ii  m.ya{formh; 
from  the  estuary  st-ata  of  the  :ige  of  the  l-'ox  Hills  Oroui)  '^^  Coalville, 
Utah,  Anomia  propatoris;  from  the  Fox  Hills  Group  at  Cimarron, 
Xew  Mexico,  liarhntia  barhulala;  from  Dodson's  R,"nch,  near  Pueblo, 
Colorado,  Lfspodeatftes  nhscurala;  from  the  Dakota  Group,  Saline 
county,  Kansas,  Pterin  salfnensis,  OervflJia  mndgenna;  from  the  Fort 
Pierre  Group  at  Fort  Shaw  near  Muscleshell  i-iver,  jMontana,  Tessarofax 
hitzi;  and  frora  the  Cretaceous  of  Yellow  Stone  river,  Montana,  Fas- 
ciolari.a  alleui. 


;'^r: 


144 


CvetaaeoHS. 


■■'* 


Prof.  R.  P.  Whiilicld  described,  from  near  San  Antonio,  Texas, 
Paramithrnx  (  ?)  walkeri.  And  Prof.  O.  C.  jNIar.sh*  described,  from  the 
Cretaceous  cluilk  of  Kansas,  Ilolosaurns  abriiptits. 

To  conclude  tiiis  cursory  review  of  the  growtii  of  our  knowledge  of 
the  Cretaceous  foi-matioii  of  North  America,  I  will  add  a  few  observa- 
tions upon  the  present  state  of  the  science.  The  Cretaceous  is  found 
either  exposed  upon  the  surface  or  covered  b}'  the  Tertiary,  forming  ti 
border  of  variable  width,  on  the  eastern  coast,  from  New  York  to 
Florida.  It  constitutes  the  surface  rocks,  or  is  overlaid  with  the  Ter- 
tiary at  all  places  south  of  the  olJd  pai'allel,  with  the  exception  of  lim- 
ited areas  in  the  mountain  regions.  It  extends  up  into  Tennessee, 
si)reads  over  all  Mississippi,  and  reaches  southern  Illinois,  West  of 
the  97th  meridian  from  the  3od  parallel  to  the  Arctic  ocean,  the  whole 
country  is  covered  with  this  formation,  with  the  ^^xception  of  limited 
areas  in  the  mountain  regions,  or  inconsiderable  extensions  of  Ir.ud, 
where  it  has  l)een  swept  awa^y,  and  an  area  of  some  magnitude  north 
and  west  of  Hudson's  Bay.  This  of  course  includes  the  area  covered 
by  the  Tertiary.  It  is  found  east  of  the  97th  meridian,  extending  into 
Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  some  parts  of  British  America.  Or  approxi- 
matel}^  stated,  the  Cretaceous  now  forms  the  surface  rock,  or  is  over- 
spread by  the  Tertiary,  over  more  than  half  the  area  of  the  North 
American  Continent,  and  from  the  extensive  denudation  which  it  has 
evidently  sulTered,  we  may  fairly  presume,  that  at  the  commencement 
of  this  formation  the  continent  was  an  island  of  less  than  one  third 
its  present  dimensions. 

In  the  east  and  south  the  formation  is  exclusively  a  marine  deposit, 
but  in  the  west,  over  great  areas,  the  marine  Cretaceo-.-,  '<  is  succeeded 
by  a  brackish  or  fresh  water  Cretaceous  deposit.  In  tfjc  east  it  never 
exceeds  half  a  mile  in  thickness,  but  in  the  west  the  marine  Cretaceous 
sometimes  exceeds  a  mile  in  thickness,  and  is  followed  by  the  brackish 
and  fresh  water  dei)osits,  which  are  also  more  than  a  mile  and  some- 
times even  two  miles  in  thickness.  This  formation  is,  therefore,  pre- 
eminently the  i)uilding  deposit  or  land  making  deposit  of  the  North 
American  Continent. 

The  brackish  and  fresh  water  deposits  were  first  named  the  Fort 
Union  or  Lignitic  Group,  and  there  is  no  reason  known  to  the  author, 
why  these  deposits,  wherever  found,  should  bear  any  other  geological 
name.  It  is  true  that  the  name  Bear  River  Group  was  given  to  a 
group  of  rocks  lower  than  those  first  named  the  Fort  Union  Group,  but 


Ain.  .Jour.  Soi,  and  Arts,  8il  Ser.,  Vol.  xix. 


Mesozoic  and  Camozoic  Geology  and  PaloBontolof/i/.         14;"! 


the  separation  has  uot  been  niaintainetl,  and  tlie  authors,  instead  of 
extending  tlie  Fort  Union  Group  to  include  tliese  roeks,  have  called 
both  the  Foi't  Union  and  Bear  River  Groups  the  Laramie;  Group. 
Prof.  White,  and  some  other  authors,  call  the  rocks  r()st-('retaceous. 
This  is  not  objectionable,  beciiuse  it  is  treating  them  with  reference  to 
their  geological  position,  and  not  proposing  a  new  name  foi'  a  grouj)  of 
rocks.  If  it  is  desirable  to  retain  the  name  Hear  River  Group,  it  should 
be  applied  to  the  rocks  below  the  Fort  Union  Gi'oup.  and  in  no  event 
can  the  Fort  Union  Grou|>  be  swjtUowed  up  by  another  name  for  tlu; 
same  group  of  rocks.  A  great  many  synonyms  have  been  i)roposed  for  this 
Group,  some  of  which  it  is  ditlicult  to  wipe;  out,  and  others  will  l)ui'then 
the  science  for  a  longer  or  shoi'ter  period,  but,  finally,  we  may  hoi)e  for 
their  burial  in  oblivion.  Any  one  can  propose  to  call  an  exposure  of 
rocks,  at  any  i)lnce,  by  a  new  name,  but  it  requires  a  paheontologist  to 
determine  the  age  of  the  rocks  and  to  refer  them  to  their  pioper  posi- 
tion in  the  geological  column.  A  little  reflection,  therefore,  will  satisfy 
the  reader,  that  proposing  a  new  name  for  a  grouj)  of  rocks,  wherever 
exposed,  without  giving  the  palreontological  reasons  for  so  doing,  is  an 
evidence  of  ignoi-ance,  and  most  frequently  we  find  those  who  do  it  are 
suffering  from  downright  stupidity. 

The  plants  which  have  been  described,  from  the  Cretaceous  rocks  in 
(piestion,  have  l)een  referred  to  about  150  genera,  and  number  about  HOO 
species.  About  50  of  these  genera  are  now  extinct,  and  about  100  are 
living.  The  larger  part  are  from  the  Fort  Union  Group  of  the  West,  and 
from  tlieir  intimate  relation  with  living  forms,  the  great  pala?o-botanist. 
Prof.  LeSquereux.  referred  the  rocks  to  FiOcene  age.  Tiie  testimony, 
however,  of  the  animal  remains,  which  Prof.  Cope  was  the  first  to  dis- 
cover, has  proven  that  they  must  i)e  referred  to  the  upper  or  later 
Cretaceous.  This  determination  has,  if  we  may  trust  investigations 
of  our  fossil  botanists,  specifically  united  the  Cretaceous  era  with  the 
present  time.  For  the  living  plants,  Oori/liis  americana,  (J.  rostrata, 
DavdUin  fenuifoUn^  and  Onorlea  sensihlllti  have  been  identified  among 
the  fossils  from  the  Fort  Union  Group.  It  is  likely  that  too  much 
confidence  in  this  identification  may  lead  to  erroi-,  for  as  yet  we  maj' 
fairly  suppose  that  we  know  but  little  of  the  vegetable  life  of  this  vast 
period  of  time  in  comparison  with  what  will  be  known  in  a  few  de- 
cades. And  better  specimens  than  those  upon  which  the  identifica- 
tions have  been  made  may  show  s[)ecific  distinctions.  It  is  sufficient 
that  the  forms  so  much  resemble  the  living  as  to  be  mistaken  for 
them,  to  show  how  closely  the  living  forms  are  connected  with  the 
ancient  dead. 


mt 


146 


Cret.ucenvs. 


Tho  relation  between  *;lie  invertebrate  liingdom  of  the  Cretaceous 
period  and  the  living  invertebrates  is  shown  (according"  to  present 
identifications)  by  the  survival  of  more  than  one  third  of  the  Creta- 
ceous genera,  though  all  Cretaceous  species  have  become  extinct.  The 
survival,  however,  in  dilferent  classes,  is  by  no  means  uniform.  In  tlie 
class  Polypi,  of  sixteen  Cretaceous  genera,  six  are  living.  In  the 
class  Echinodermata,  of  tweniytwo  genera,  eight  arc  living.  In  the 
class  Bryozoa,  of  thirty-two  genera,  nine  are  living.  In  the  class 
Brachiopoda,  of  six  genera,  live  are  living.  In  the  class  Gasteropoda, 
of  one  hundred  and  seventy-lour  genera,  ninety-six  are  living.  In  tiie 
class  Lamellibranchiata,  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  genera,  seventy 
are  living.  But  in  the  class  Cephalopoda,  where  there  were  more  than 
thirty  genera  and  subgenera,  all  iiave  become  extinct  except  a  single 
genus,  the  NnHtilus. 

The  connection  between  the  vertebrates  of  the  Cretaceous  period, 
and  the  living  vertebrates,  is,  seemingly,  much  farther  removed.  No 
Cretaceous  genera  of  birds  or  mammals  survive.  In  the  class  Reptilia, 
where  more  than  seventy-five  Cretaceous  genera  have  been  determined, 
only  three  genera  are  known  to  have  survived,  Crocodiliis^  IWionyoc  and 
Emys.  A  few  species  of  fishes,  found  in  the  Cretaceous,  have  been  referr- 
ed to  living  genera,  u.:d  probably  some  of  them  are  correctly  so  referred ; 
but  from  the  great  differentiation  observed  in  the  vertebrates,  during 
tho  long  period  of  time  which  has  transpired,  we  can  not  ex]iect  to  find 
many  forms  preserving  unchanged  their  ancient  outlines, though  we  may 
be  able  to  trace  backward  the  living  genera  into  what  we  call  distinct 
ancestral  genera  or  families. 

This  closes  our  remarks  upon  the  iMesozoic  period,  and  we  will  now 
take  up  the  Caiuozoic.  There  is  no  great  break  in  nnimal  or  vegetable 
life  in  passing  from  the  IMesozoic  to  the  Csenozoic,  as  earlv  geologists, 
fi'om  very  limited  observations,  supposed.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  to 
be  a  most  propable  hypothesis  that  there  are  no  breaks  in  genealog- 
ical trees.  All  organic  life  has  descended  from  ancestral  forms,  and 
among  the  vertebrates,  in  the  later  geological  periods,  profitable  accre- 
tions or  accessions  of  important  parts  or  functioi;s  have  been  developed 
in  successive  generations.  This  will  become  more  apparent  as  we  pass 
from  one  group  of  rocks  to  another  in  the  Tertiary  period. 


Mesozoic  and  C(vnozoi'c  OeoloQi)  and  Pfdivontoloyy, 


147 


THE  C^ENOZOia  AGE.  OR  TEIiTIARY  PERIOD. 


When  the  words  Primary,  Secondary  and  Tertiary  are  used  to  dis- 
tinguish geologieal  subdivisions,  the  rooks  are  so  coniprelunidod  as  to 
leave  none  to  wiiicli  the  word  Quaternary  can  he  pi'operly  applied. 
The  organic  renuiins  of  the  Tertiary  arc;  likewise  so  completely  blended 
with  the  living  organisms,  that  we  can  not  distinguish  a  Quaternary 
age  or  i)erioil.  The  subdivision  of  t.»e  Tertiary,  with  reference  to  the 
survival  of  concholo;>ical  species,  into  Eooene,  Miocene,  Pliocene  and 
Post-pliocene,  brings  us  to  the  living  species  as  gradually  as  the  spe- 
cies are  found  to  change  within  any  of  the  subdivisions  of  geological 
time,  or  within  any  of  the  minor  subdivisions  of  the  strata  into  groups. 
It  is,  therefore,  evidently  a  mistake  to  use  the  word  Quaternary,  in  a 
geological  subdivision,  with  reference  either  to  the  rocks  or  their  oiganic 
contents. 

The  Tertiary  rocks,  generally,  consist  of  marls,  clays,  sands,  or  other 
friable  material,  filling  depressions  in  the  underlying  rocks,  and,  tiu)ugli 
widely  distributeil,  seUloin  form  hard  continuous  strata.  This  condi- 
tion cf  the  rocks  in  Europe  made  it  ve:y  ditlicult  to  determine  the 
order  of  superposition,  and  led  Deshayes  to  suggest,  after  having  ex- 
amined 1,122  species  of  fossil  shells  from  the  Paris  basin,  and  having 
identified  only  thirty-eight  with  the  living,  that  a  subdivision  of  the 
Tertiary  might  be  based  upon  the  relative  proportion  of  the  extinct 
and  living  species  of  shells.  lie  drew  up,  in  tabular  form,  lists  of  all 
the  living  shells  known  to  him  as  occurring  in  Tertiary'  rocks,  and  sub- 
mitted the  same  to  ]Mr.  Lyell.  The  number  of  jecies  of  fossil  shells 
examined  by  Deshayes  was  about  three  thousand,  and  the  living  sjjc- 
cies  with  which  they  were  compared  about  five  thousand.  With  this 
assistance,  and  that  furnished  by  the  works  of  Basterot  and  some 
Italian  authors,  .Mr.  Lyell,  in  ISIJ:),  estimated  that,  in  the  lower  Ter- 
tiary' strata  of  London  and  Paris,  cJ.t  per  cent,  of  the  species  are  iden- 
tical with  the  living;  that,  in  the  middle  Tertiary  of  the  Loire  and 
Gironde,  about  17  per  cent,  are  living;  that  in  the  upper  Tertiary,  or 
Subappenine  beds,  from  oo  to  50  [jcrcent. ;  and  that,  in  strata  still 
more  recent,  in  Sicily,  from  90  to  95  i)er  cent.  He  proposed  to  call  the 
lower  Tertiary  "  Eocene,"  which  signifies  the  dawn  ot  the  present  state 
of  things;  the  middle  Tertiary  '•  Miocene,"  which  implies  less  recent; 
and  the  upper  Tertiary  *'  Pliocene,''  which  means  more   recent.     The 


'  m 


148 


Tertiary. 


U 


Pliocene  he  subdivided  into  the  Older  Pliocene  and  Newer  Pliocene. 
In  the  latter,  out  of  220  fossil  si»ecies  of  shells,  he  found  216  to  be 
living.  He  afterward  proposed  the  name  Post-pliocene  for  rocks  hav- 
ing all  the  imbedded  fossil  shells  identical  with  living*  species,  though 
they  may  contain  extinct  mannnalian  remains.  We  now  include  in  this 
group  strata  which  belong  to  more  modern  time,  and  which  arc  fre- 
quently called  "  Recent." 

This  subdivision  of  tho  Tertiary,  with  reference  to  the  survival  of 
conchological  species,  and  the  si  bdivision  of  the  strata,  or  rocks,  into 
groups,  have  made  a  double  system  of  nomenclature,  which  does  nM 
prevail  in  the  older  geological  periods.  The  determination  of  the  North 
American  equivalents  of  the  European  strata,  by  the  per  cent,  of  living 
species,  was  soon  ascertained  to  be  impracticable,  and,  instead  of  that 
method,  the  age  is  determined  by  the  extinct  species.  Certain  species 
have  come  to  be  regarded  as  types  of  pjocene  age,  or  Miocene,  as 
the  case  may  be,  and,  from  the  presence  of  these,  the  rocks  are  referred 
to  the  proper  subdivision  of  the  Tertiary. 

I  have  not  found  time  to  separate  the  consideration  of  the  Tertiary, 
into  the  groups  into  which  it  has  been  subdivided,  and  preserve  the 
chronological  order,  or  history  of  our  knowledge  of  it.  For  this  reason^ 
I  will  follow  the  order  of  discovery  in  matters  relating  to  the  Tertiary, 
separating  only  that  part  relating  to  the  fresh  water  drift  of  the  central 
part  of  the  continent,  which  will  form  the  conclusion  of  this  essa^'; 
nor  will  I  dwell  upon  the  few  vertebrate  fossils  mentioned  prior  to  1820. 

In  1824,  Prof.  Silliman*  noticed  the  Tertiary  exposed  at  Martha's 
Vineyard  and  the  Elizabeth  Islands.  Prof.  01mstead,f  in  the  first  re- 
port ever  made,  as  it  is  said,  in  any  country,  upon  geology,  with  State 
or  Government  funds,  described  the  country  through  which  the  Beau- 
port  canal  was  excavated,  and  separated  the  strata  into:  1st.  A  black 
mould;  2d.  Potters'  clav,  of  a  yellowish  brown  color;  ;5d.  A  thin  layer  of 
sand,  full  of  sea  shells  and  the  remains  of  land  animals,  particularly 
v>f  the  mammoth,  from  three  to  eight  feet  deep;  and,  4th.  A  soft 
blue  clay. 

Thomas  Sa}'^  described,  from  strata  now  referred  to  the  Miocene  of 
Maryland,  Tarritella  jifebeia,  Natica  interna,  BaGchmm  porcinum, 
now  Ptychosalpinx  x>orcina,  B.  aratum,  Fksus  cinereus,  now  Urosal- 
pinx  cinereas,  F.  A-costatus,  now  Ecphora  quadricostata,  (Jalyptraea 


*  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  vol.  vii. 
t  Rep.  on  the  Geo.  of  North  Carolina. 
t  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  vol.  iv.,  pt.  1. 


Mesozoic  and  (Uvnozoir  Geohxjii  and  Palreonloloijy. 


140 


grandis,  now  Dispotwa  (jrandis,  Fi'ssureUa  redimicuht,  Osfrea  com- 
pressirosfra,  Pecteii  je^'eraonius,  P.  madhoniiis,  P.  clinlonim,  P.  sep- 
fenariiis,  Plicafnla  marginata ;  iiiid  from  strata  now  refVrrod  to  the 
IMloceiie  of  .^lurylaiul,  Avra  arata,  A.  ceiifetKO-fa,  A.  incile,  Pecf.un- 
ckIiis  sifbovafiis,  Niicuhi  concenfrica^  N.  laei'i.s,  Venericai'din  yravu- 
lata,  now  Cardita  yranulata,  Cnnisdlelln  nudiilafa,  [socardid/ra/erna, 
Tellinn  aequisti  iata^  Liici'no  anodonta,  L.  cordraofa,  L.  crihraria^  L. 
suhobliqiia,  VemiN  de/onnis^  Asfarte  undulafn,  A.  v/'cina,  Aviphi- 
desma  sabovatinti,  Corbidn  cnneata,  C.  inaeqiKUis,  Panopcea  rejlexa^ 
Serpida  (puinifern,  and  Dentaliinn  atfenuafnm. 

In  1825,  Dr.  Kichard  Harlan*  described,  from  Bigbone  Lick,  Ken- 
tucky, Ccrt'UH  americatiiis,  iJus  bombifrons,  now  Ovibos  bombifron.s,  B. 
latijrons,  now  Bison  lafi/rons ;  from  a  cave  in  Oreenbriar  county, 
Virginia,  Jlec/alonj/x  jeffer.soai^  and  from  Skidaway  Island,  Georgia, 
Meciatheruim  cucierl. 

In  182S,  D)'.  J,  E.  Dekayf  described,  from  the  Post-pliocene  at  New 
Madrid,  on  the  JMississippi  river,  Jios  pallasi. 

In  1820,  Dr.  Morton;];  arranged,  from  the  notes  of  Lardner  Vanuxem, 
sofne  geological  observations  on  the  Tertiary  and  Alluvial  formations 
of  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  United  States,  showing  their  great  extent 
and  inclination  from  Nantucket  and  Martha's  Vineyard,  f  ■  the  coast 
of  New  pjugland,  to  the  Mississippi  river.  The  moder.i  alluvial  was 
divided  into  vegetable  mould  and  river  alluvium;  the  ancient  alluvial 
into  white  siliceous  sand  and  red  earth;  the  Tertiary  formation  into 
beds  of  limestone,  buhrstone,  sand  and  clay.  He  described,  from 
strata  now  regarded  as  Pliocene.  Crcpt'dula  costata. 

In  1830,  Mr.  Timothy  A.  Conrad§  showed  that  Tertiary  deposits 
occupy  all  that  part  of  ^Maryland  south  of  an  irregular  line,  running 
from  the  vicinity  of  Baltimore  to  Washington  City,  between  the 
Potomac  river  and  Chesapeake  bay,  though  most  of  the  surface  is 
covered  with  a  diluvial  deposit  o(  sand  and  gravel;  and  from  the  pres- 
ence of  Tiirritella  mortoni,  Ciicnlkvo  fjiyantea,  and  Venericardia 
planicosta,  he  regarded  the  deposits  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Washing- 
ton as  contemporaneous  with  the  London  cla}'  of  England,  which  now 
constitutes  part  of  the  Eocene  of  Europe,  This  was  the  first  announce- 
ment of  the  existence  of  strata,  of  this  age,  in  America. 


*  Fauna  Americana. 
T  Am.  Lye.  Nat.  Hist.,  N.  Y.,  vol.  ii. 
I  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  vi.,  pt.  1. 
'i  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol,  vi.,  pt.  2. 


■; 


150 


Tertiary. 


*) 


He  (lescribeil,  from  Afaryland,  in  strata,  now  re<;ar(le(l  as  of  Pliocene 
age,  Murex  acuticostn,  Volnfa  soft  far/a.  Cassis  cwlafa/rrochns  humilis, 
T.  rcclusas,  Pi/rvfa  sulcosa,  Turritelld  laqucafa^  1\  rariabilis,  Can- 
cellaria  lunaf.a;  and  from  strata  now  I'eferred  to  tlie  Miocene,  Xatica 
frogilis,  Pfenrofomu  communis,  P.  (Ussimilis,  P.  pavva^  P.  rotifera, 
Maryinella  denticuhita,  N'assa  qaadrafa,  Terebra  simplej;  Actaeon 
melanoides,  A.  ovoides,  Mncfra  ponderosa,  Venus  a/reafa,  Amphi- 
desma  carinohim,  Area  ma.ciUata,  and  Cardium  laqueaftnn:  and  from 
strata  now  referred  to  the  Eocene,  Monodonta  glandnlo,  Turritella 
morfoiii,  CucuUma  (ji(/antea,  now  Latiarca  giganfea,  t'rassalella  alae- 
formis,  and  Vcnericardia  blandiiu/i. 

In  18;>2,  Prof.  Edward  Hitclicock*  described  tlie  alluvimn  as  tliat 
fine,  loamy  deposit,  whicli  is  yearly  forming*  from  the  sediment  of  run- 
ning waters,  chiefly  by  the  inundations  of  rivers.  I<;  is  made  up  oi 
the  finest  and  richest  portions  of  every  soil  over  wiiich  the  waters  have 
passed.  No  extensive  alluvial  tracts  occur  in  Massachusetts;  although 
liuiited  patches  of  this  stratum  exist,  not  infrequently,  along  the  banks 
of  every  stream.  The  diluvinm.^  he  said,  occupied  more  of  the  surface 
of  the  State  than  any  other  stratum.  It  is  not  generally  distinguished 
from  alluvium;  but  it  is  usually  much  coarser,  being  made  up,  com- 
monly, of  large  pebbles,  or  rounded  stones,  mixed  with  sand  and  frag- 
ments of  ever}^  size,  which  are  often  piled  up  in  rounded  hills  to  a  con" 
siderable  height,  and  under  such  circumstances  as  preclude  the  proba- 
bility that  it  could  have  resulted  from  existing  streams.  The  Tertiary 
formation  is  represented  as  most  perfectly  developed  on  Martha's 
Vineyard,  though  found  on  the  Connecticut  river  aud  in  the  vicinity 
of  Boston,  and  in  limited  patches  in  other  parts  of  the  State.  He  said 
the  difference  between  this  formation  and  the  diluvium  is,  that  in  the 
diluvium,  the  sand,  pebbles  and  clay  are  confusedly  mixed  together; 
but  in  the  Tertiary,  these  materials  are  arranged  in  regular,  and  gen- 
erally, in  horizontal  layers,  one  above  another.  Hence.,  when  the  sandy 
stratum  happens  to  lie  uppermost,  the  soil  will  be  too  sandy;  but  ii 
this  be  worn  away,  so  that  the  cla}'  lies  at  the  surface,  the  soil  will  be 
too  argillaceous;  or  if  the  gravel  stratum  be  exposed,  the  soil  can  not 
be  distinguished  from  diluvium. 

In  18;5;J,f  he  treated  of  the  coast  alluvium,  which  is  produced  by  tides 
aud  currents  in  the  ocean,  tliat  frequently  transport  large  quantities 
of  soil  from  one  place  to  another,  and  cause  it  to  accumulate  in  those 

*  Rep.  on  the  Geo.  of  Muss.,  1832. 
+  Hop.  on  the  Uco.  of  Mass.,  Ks33. 


Mesozoic  and  (Jctiiozoic  Geolotji/  nml  I'tdtconf.olofjif. 


151 


situations  wIicit  tiio  t'orco  abates  nv  is  destrnyod.  'I'lio  Salt  Marsli 
alliiviiiin,  wiiic'li  results  tVoiii  tin;  decay  of  salt  niarsli  plants;  the  .silt 
brouj^hc  over  the  marsh  by  the  tides;  and  from  the  alluvial  soil 
brought  down  by  streams  which  empty  through  these  marshes.  Ho 
mentioned  the  submarine  forests  on  the  coast,  and  ou  Martha's  Vino- 
yard,  and  numerous  deposits  of  peat,  and  tlie  processes  by  which  it  is 
produced.  He  observed  how  ra[)idly  the  New  Ked  Sandstone  disinte- 
grates and  unites  with  the  soil,  giving  a  decidedly  red  hue  to  extensive 
tracts  of  land;  and  likewise  the  gnoiss.  which  is  found  disintegrat(Ml 
to  a  depth  of  from  six;  to  ten  feet,  and  thus  covers  the  earth  and  ob- 
scures the  rocks  even  in  the  hilly  districts.  Some  varieties  of  trap, 
sienito,  mica,  talcose  and  argillaceous  slates  are  similarly  affected,  and 
even  quartz  ro(^k  is  shown  to  slowly  decompose  by  the  action  of  the 
weather.  As  evidencing  the  latter  fact,  it  is  mentioned  that  the  name 
of  John  Gilpin  had  been  painted  upon  a  smooth  boulder  of  granular 
quartz  within  the  past  1 ")()  years,  and  that  the  paint  had  so  protected 
the  surface  beneath  it,  while  the  decomposing  process  went  on  over 
other  parts  of  the  rock,  that  the  name  is  now  found  perceptibly  ele- 
vated on  rubbing  th(»  lingers  over  the  stone.  Three  causes — rains, 
frost  and  gravit}' — are  said  to  be  constantly  operating  to  degrade  the 
hills  and  the  mountains.  In  preci[)itous  trap-ridges,  water  penetrates 
fissures,  freezes,  and  breaks  asunder  the  masses  which  constitute  the 
slopes  of  broken  fragments  or  debris  of  rocks,  which  arrest  the  atten- 
tion on  the  mural  faces  of  the  greenstone  ridges  in  the  Connecticut 
vallo}'.  The  gneiss  rock,  in  Worcester  count}-,  abounds  with  sulphuret 
of  iron,  which  is  continually  undergoing  decomposition  by  the  action 
of  heat,  air  and  moisture,  and  becoming  changed  into  an  oxide  and 
sulphate.  The  oxide  imbibes  carbonic  acid  from  the  atmosphere,  and 
is  changed  into  a  carbonate  which  is  soluble  in  water;  or  this  oxide  is 
washed  into  cavities,  where  it  meets  with  water  containing  carbonic 
acid,  by  which  it  is  dissolved.  Once  dissolved,  it  is  transported  to 
ponds  and  swamps,  where  it  is  de[)osited  by  evaporation,  and  forms 
the  well  known  bog  iron  ore.  Rocks  containing  manganese  are  like- 
wise undergoing  decomposition,  and  producing,  in  a  similar  manner,  the 
oxide  of  manganese. 

The  ridge  of  bowlders  on  the  margin  of  some  ponds,  where  the  bot- 
tom is  free  from  them  to  a  considerable  extent,  is  accounted  for  by  the 
expansion  of  the  ice  in  lifting  them  from  the  bottom  and  vowding 
them  out,  while  there  is  no  force  on  the  melting  of  the  ice  r,o  draw 
them  back. 


^PIH 


ir)2 


Tcrtidfji. 


The  (MUToacIimonts  of  tlu?  son  ii[)<ni  tlio  land,  and  the  p^ain  of  tlie 
land  upon  tho  sea,  arc  di.scusscMl.  Tiie  dunes  or  downs  are  described. 
The  Connoetic'ut  river  is  shown  not  to  have  excavated  its  own  valley 
entirely,  thoiij^h  proofs  are  olfcied  to  show  that  it  has  cut  out  the  last 
ninety  feet  in  depth,  or  all  l)elow  the  >i|)per  terrace  which  forms  the 
great  valU\y  of  the  Connecticut.  The  t(Mraces  found  in  the  river  val- 
leys are  described,  and  their  ori<j;in  aceoiinted  for  on  the  supposition 
that  tliey  were  produced  by  the  rivers  when  they  run  upon  a  higher 
elevation  than  they  do  at  present,  Tlu'  action  of  ice  Hoods  which  con- 
tinue to  operate  energcitically  in  the  Connecticut  valley,  and  more  pow- 
erfully in  the  mountain  torrents,  are  considered  in  relation  to  their 
effects  in  modifyin*''  the  surl'acc  and  excavating  the  beds  of  rivers.  It 
is  shown  that  the  Connecticut  ri\ern)ay  have  excavate<l  its  own  valiv.y 
above  Mount  Toby,  in  Sunderland,  but  that  this  is  the  only  valle}'  in 
the  State  which  is  strictly  a  valley  of  donundation. 

lie  separated  the  Tertiary  into  the  most  recent  Tertiary  and  the 
plastic  clay.  The  newest  Tertiary  is  found  in  the  Connecticut  valley, 
and  at  Cambridge,  Charleston,  and  other  places.  At  Deerlield,  it  is 
found  more  than  sixty  feet  in  thickness,  and  near  Boston,  from  seventy' 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet.  The  plastic  clay  is  found  at  Nan- 
tucket and  the  southeastern  part  of  the  State.  lie  considei-ed  the  ex- 
tensive beds  of  hydrate  of  iron  in  the  limestone  valleys  of  Berkshire 
county,  and  the  claystones  of  the  Connecticut  valley  as  of  Tertiary 
age.  The  latter  are  concretions  of  carbonate  of  lime  mixed  with 
clay,  such  as  that  in  which  they  are  found,  consisting  of  alumina  and 
line  sand,  with  occasional  (ino  scales  of  mica.  These  concretions  are 
round,  lenticular  or  oblate,  and  frequently  Joined  together.  The 
diameter  is  from  the  thickness  of  a  pigeon  shot  to  two  or  more  Inches, 
and  the  thickness  is  that  of  a  single  layer  of  clay,  which  rarely  ex- 
ceeds one  half  an  inch.  The  Tertiary  of  the  Connecticut  valley,  and 
other  interior  places,  he  supposed  to  be  of  fresh  water  origin,  and  the 
plastic  cla}^  a  marine  formation.  The  latter  he  separated  into  its 
mineralog'cal  characters,  and  described  white  pipe  clay,  })lood  red 
clay,  red  and  white  clay,  bluish  gray  plastic  clay,  white  siliceous  sand, 
white  micaceous  sand,  green  sand,  lignite,  osseous  conglomerate,  and 
other  conglomerates  and  minerals.  He  noticed  the  organic  remains, 
and  called  attention  to  the  fossil  vegetables  and  animals. 

In  the  same  year,  Mr.  Isaac  Lea*  described  the  Tertiarj'  at   Clai- 


*  Contributions  to  Geology. 


Mesozoic  find  Ccenitzoir  Ofolopi/  and   Pdlwonfolngij.  153 


borne,  Ahiltiiiiifi,  mikI  rcfcrnMl  it  to  the  ajjt'  ol'tlu'  riOiidoii  d.-iy,  ol'Kng- 
lainl,  jiikI  the  (Jnlcalre  (frossiitr,  of  I'jiris.  Ilaviiii,'  received  Lyell'M  I'riii- 
eiples,  wherein  the  'reitiarv  was  siilxlivided  into  Eocene,  Miocene  and 
Pliocene,  he  was  enaltled  to  class  tlie  Claiborne  strata  with  the 
F^.ocene.  Tiiis  seems  to  iiave  been  the  first  application  of  the  word 
"Eocene''  to  American  rocics,  th(»nu;li  as  above  remarked,  Conrad  liad 
compared  American  rocks  with  the;  London  clay  and  Cafcaire 
Grassier^  wliicli  were  afterward  made  the  type  of  the  Eocene  p(!riod. 
He  described,  from  the  Eocene  at  (-laiborne,  Liinidifcs  bonef,  now 
Disco fiush'cllarid  honei^  L.  ditcl()si\  now  Heferficfis  dur,f().^i\  Oi'bffolffcK 
inferKf/fift,  now  Lnniililes  infarstifia,  0.  dhrotdeo,  now  Cupnhn'ia  dis- 
coided,  'Ttn'hiiioh'd  ffoId/Kssi,  now  ridhjtroclms  (jt}ldfiissi\  T.  inaclurei, 
now  Undopacfii/s  maclurcL  T.  tKom,  T.  phun'ta,  T.  xlokesi,  now  PUihj- 
h'ochiis  fito7i'est\  Slliqintrid  chdhorncDs/s,  Dentnlhim  a/fernfifnm,  D. 
tnrrifnm,  Spirorbisi  tiibinie/lc,  Serptifa  oniatn.  Tcrrdo  simplex^  Sole- 
cvrfus  bldinvillei,  AvoHnn  claiborncnsls,  now  I'en'ploiiid  claibornensis^ 
Mactrn  deiifafa,  M,  (/rayi,  31.  pi/f/nntefi,  Corbulti  afabamensis,  C. 
cotnprcssn,  (..  (/ffibona,  ('.  mn7'chts(m/,  litj.ssoiiiyn  pefricoloides,  Kyerin 
biicklaiidi,  E.  irijlafd,  now  Sphaerella  infl.dta,  E.  naivt.  E.  lu'fens,  E. 
ovah's,  E,  plana,  now  Tdlitia  pinna,  E.  rotunda,  E.  subtrhjona,  I', 
frianyulata,  E.  venevrf'ornu's,  Lucina  covipressn,  L.  cornxfa,  L.  impres 
.sa,  L.  Jnnafti,  L.  papt/r((i'ea,  Gratelupla  nionh'nsi,  Asfarfe  minor,  now 
3Ii('ro7neris  minor,  A .   nicfdini,  A.  parca,    now  31.  parra,  A.  recnrva, 

A.  minaHHsima,  now  3t.  minnfissima,  Ci/therea  romis,  ('.  r/lobosa,  C. 
hydi,  (J.  minima.,  (J.  Hiibcras.^a,  G.  tri joniata,  Venericardia  paroa, 
V.  rotunda,  V.  silliniani,  F".  franxoersa,  Ilippac/ua  isorardioides, 
Myoparo  co.itatiis,  Area  r  ho  mho  i  delta,  now  Anoma'ocardia  rhomboid 
ella,  Pectuncutus  broderipi,  P.  de/toideus,  P.  minor,  P.  eltip.s'is,  now 
Limopsin  ellipsis,  If  acuta  bronyniarti,  N".  carinifera,  A^.  niaynn,  UdW 
KuGutana  magna,  N".  media,  now  JVuculana  media,  N.  ovula,  now 
Xu('ulan((  ovula,  X.  pectuncalfcris,  now  Limopsis  pectuncuJaris,  X. 
plivata,  now  Naculana  plicata,  If,  pulc/ierrima.  now  Ifuculana  pul- 
rJierrima,  AT.  sedyw>c/ci.  If.  seuieu,  now  Ifuculana  semen,  Avioula 
claibornensis,  Pecten  destiayesi.  P.  fyelti.  Plicatuta  mantelli,  Ostrea 
alabamensis,  O,  dirarira/a,  0.  linyu((canis,  0.  pincerna,  O.  semitunafa, 
Fissurella  claibornensis,  Ifippo'iy.'^  pyymiva,  now  Concholepas  j^yymiva, 
InJ'undibulum  trochiforme,  (Jrcindula  cornuariefes.   Bulla  sthillairl, 

B.  dekayi,  now  (Jylichna  dekayi,  Pasithea  aciculata.  P.  claibornensis. 
P.  eleyans,  P.  yuttula,  P.  luyubris,  P.  minima,  P.  notata,  P.  secate, 
P.   umttiUcata,  P.  striata,  now  Acto'onella  striata,  P.  sulcatit,  now  A 


151 


Te.i'lionj. 


4  i*| 


suli'dfii,  IVaficii  ./I'hhnsfi,  now  yeven'fd  f/ihhosa,  Niitica  ma(/noiim- 
hilicHfd,  iV.  mamma,  JV.  nn'iiima,  now  Linxithi  iin'n/'md,  y.  viitior,  N". 
parrn,  JV.  seiiu'/utiafa,  N.  itfriatit,  Acffteati  e/ecafits.  A.  Ifievin,  .(, 
h'/iejifiis,  .t .  miti/noph'ffi/iin.  A.  pinirfiifus,  A.  iref/icn'/lf,  A.  viv.laiivlhis. 
now  OhvJisciis  melinic/his,  A,  >ifri<i/iis,  now  (),  sfn'tifiix,  A,  fiiifiiiKK'nx, 
now  O.  jit/fimfieiis,  tS<'(il(ii'/d  carinatn,  S.  jthi/ndnfft,  S,  (jniiK/iicJnsciatd, 
Deljthlnuhi  (lein'onsa,  now  Sohn'iorh/'a  de/tresm/s,  D.  /tlmin.  now  Archi- 
fertoii/'i-it  j)lana,  Sohtrinm  bilfiienfum,  now  Archilcctonica  hilinenta, 
S.  ('((nreUattnn^  now  .1.  cfnice/htfa,  S.  chujcinn,  now  A,  c/ei/ans.  S.  f/ranii- 
fdlum,  now  A.  (jtutmihihi,  S.  hcnriri,  now  J.  hcnrlca,  S.  ortioi'.nn,  now  A. 
ofuiil((,  Oi'hi's  rofelhi,  now  Dlmuthelix  rofc/hi,  Phtnarln  in'feiis,  now 
Sohin'orhhs  nffeiis,  Tin'bo  iitifico/'dcs,  T.  in'ttns,  T.  lineafiis,  now  Sohir- 
iorhls  /I'tienfiiH,  Tuba  itffennifn,  T.  Htriafii,  T.  mi/ciffii,  Tnrn'fclhi  van'- 
naf",  v.  Ilncdta,  Cerifhiinn  sfrt'dfinii,  J'lein'ofrniKi  beaumonfi,  now 
Sitrnnla  beaiimoufi,  P,  rn'/'ifti,  now  S!.  rahih'.  P.  eh  f  hi  rent',  lunv  S. 
chitdrciii,  P.  tlesnoi/ersi,  now  -S*.  desnoi/erni,  P.  /loeni'iif/honfii.  P. 
fcsiieiiri,  P.  loHsddlei,  now  Drillid  loiisdnlei,  P.  moriHifera,  now  Siir- 
mild  itioiiih'fcrd,  P.  oblhjiin,  now  S,  obliqiid,  P.  ruffo.sa,  now  S.  riKjosii. 
P.  s(iji)\  now  *S'.  !^dyi\  <  '(ince/Idrid.  babyloiiira,  ('.  costafa,  C  eJei'df.a,  ('. 
m>d.fi/ilic(if(i,  (J.  pnrva,  C  plied ta,  ('.  aciilpliiiui,  (J.  f.essc/lafa,  Fascio- 
Idvid  rlei'dfft,  F  plicAifd.  now  f.nfittr/is  plt'cafifs,  Fksks  dcdfus,  F. 
bicai'inahis,  F.  coitjibeio'cf,  now  Strepsidara  coni/benrei.  F.  crebf.ssi- 
mus,  F.der.nssdfiiH.  I\  delabeclxi.  F.  ^/fffoiii,  F.  mdfinocostafus,  F.  minor. 
F.  morfoiiL  F.  nanus,  F.  ornafns.  A.  /).i.'riin,  F.  pn/cher,  F.  puiniUs, 
F.  taiti,  Pi/rnla  canceJ/dfa,  P.  eleipinfisshna,  P.  si><il,lii,  Murex 
nlternafa,  liosfellaria  cnricri,  P.  '  'irarcln.  Jfonoceraa  fas/forme, 
31.  pi/rn/oidea.  2T.  sulcal  m,  now  PsendoUra  sulcata,  Bnccinunt 
soioerbyi,  Nassa  canceUafa,  Ten-hra  r^sl^ifn,  T.  //rdc/lis,  T.  venusta, 
Mitra  hnniboldti\  31.  lineafa,  31.  minlina,  31.  JJemlnyi,  now  daricclla 
Jleminfji,  31.  fusoides,  now  Conomifra  fiisoides,  Volnta  cooperi,  V. 
defrancci,  V.  (frdcilis,  T".  parkinsoni,  V.  parra.^  F.  .sfriafd,  V.  van- 
uxemii  3[dr(iinella  anafina,  31.  cobnnba,  31.  Inciirva,  31.  ovafa,  31. 
plicata,  31.  semen,  31.  biplicatu,  now  liinrjlcnld  bipllcafa,  Anolax 
glqantea,  A.  plicata.^  Oh'va  constricfa,  0.  dnbla,  0.  (jreennuiihi,  O. 
minima,  0.  gracilis,  now  Lamprodoma  gracilis,  0.  phillipsi,  now  L. 
nhillipsi,  3forioptyfpna  alabamensis,  31.  elcjans.  Conns  claibor,iensis 

HI,  now   Trilu('uli)ia  miirnlandica,  J^almiO 


v/ki) 


agi 


taria,   now   Phonemus  sagitfarins,  and   Pofella  mina;    and  from  the 
Plioi'(nie,  Balanns  finchi,  and  Jfacfra  clal.hrodoa. 


Mesuzoir  and  ('iiiio::oir   (JcdIixji/   mid   /'din onfofiDji/. 


1  r»r. 


T.  A.  Coiimd*  (lcscril)(!(l,  iVoiii  tliL'  Miocene,  iit  Yoiktowii,  mikI  otlu'r 
placi'H  ill  Vir^'iiiiii,  Jfncfrii  confrm/d,  M,  onif/esfn,  M.  moilicc/tn,  M. 
cl(if/ir<)(l()u/(t,  now  UatKjin  rtiif/irudonfa,  CIkdiki.  coiiiu'dijnhi,  (\ 
(:oi'fi<'ost(,  Pett'iaohi  ri'iifeiKirin,  /'erfcn  ehi)rcii.s,  Ciff/io'cn  niot'iiliiitilicii. 
Fiil'jKt'  iixu'lis;  iiu(]  iVoin  (nioplMuU  river,  iicjii'  Ivistoii,  .MMrvituul, 
i'oi'hiilit  IdiuiCti;  iVoiii  till.'  Koi'dif.  lit  ('luilioiiic,  Al;il»:im!i,  Coi'lmhi 
oiiisciis,  Vctiet'upiH  snhre.ea,  (Uirditn  dlflcushi^  Asfftffe  fcfh'noidcs,  A. 
inif/nlitn(,  I'cctmiciifiis  HfumhiGns,  /'.  i-inicns,  now  Lhiio/isfs  <'itnciis,  I*. 
fn'(fi>nel/its,  Luniiin  ilolahrn,  L.  ixindnln,  N'ucnhi  hclhi,  JV.  caehtfn, 
.)fe/otif/(iini  oli'Cdhi,  now  Cnssidti/ns  (tl  rat  fits,  (^i'ej)idiilit  h'l'tifn,  Sohtr- 
iinn  chihordfnm,  wow  At'chitcrJ.oniiui  cbihoratd,  Sif/a re/us  /<///./•,  iind 
T  11  phis  (jriicih's. 

In  18;]1,  Mr.  T.  A.  Conrjulf  itlentiliod  i\\v.  KoetMu'  at  ( Mai  borne,  Alii.; 
sit  Eiitiiw  S|)rin<;s  and  Xelson's  Furry,  on  tlio  Santec  river;  at  Shell 
lilntf,  near  IMilled^feville,  in  (Ieor,i>ia;  at  Shell  lihill',  on  the  Savannah 
river,  liftoen  miles  below  Anynsta;  at  Fort  Gaines,  on  the  ('hattahoo- 
clicp,  and  other  plaees;  t'loni  all  which  lie  projected  the  continnity  of 
the  strata,  coniinencing  in  Maryland,  at  Fort  Wasiiiniiton,  and  extend- 
ing in  a  soiitlierly  direction  across  Virginia,  North  and  Sonth  (.'arolina, 
and  westerly  across  (leoi'gia,  Alal)ania  and  Mississippi.  His  diagram, 
representing  the  strata  composing  the  blntl  at  Clail)orne,  showed,  in 
descending  order:  1.  Diluvinin,  20  I'eet;  !.  Whitish,  friable  limestone, 
45  feet,  containing  Scuf.eUa  hjelli ;  W.  Six  feet  indurated  limestone, 
wliere  the  fossils  occur  in  casts;  4.  Ferrngiiions,  siliceous  sand,  14 
feet,  containing  Citrditn  jdanirosfa,  Corhfs  Iditiel/osa,  and  PynuDi'delht 
tereheUfifa  ;  5.  Sand,  with  a  calcareous  cement,  3  feet,  containing  0.s'- 
trea  sellaeformis  ;  0.  Soft,  lead-colored  limestone,  70  feet,  containing 
O.  sellaeformis  in  al)undance,  and  rarely  PhKjiosfoma  dnmosum;  7. 
Frialile,  lead-colored  limestone,  of  unknown  thickness,  containing  Cnr- 
dita  planicosta,  a  shell  very  characteristic  of  the  Eocene.  He  remarked 
that  the  Plagiostomn  dtimosuin  [)assed  from  the  cretaceous  rocks  to 
the  Eocene;  that  the  Eocene  at  Claiborne  appeared  to  be  older  than 
the  Eocene  of  Europe,  and  older  than  the  deposit  at  Fort  Washing, 
ton,  Md, 

He  described,  from  the  p]ocene  of  the  Southern  States,  Tellina  scnn- 
dida,  Pectunculus  pcrplanus,  now  Litnopsis  perplana,  Fusus  irrusus, 
F.  raphanoides,  F.  salebrosns,  F.  sexayigtdatns,  F.  symmetricus,  Cassis 
breviaostaf/us,  C.  taiti,  Cerithhini    nassula,   C.  solitariain,  Ancillaria 


*  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts.,  vol.  xxiii. 
i  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  vii,,  part  1. 


I": 'I 


156 


Tertinry. 


I' 


tenera,  Fhsus  coopcri,  now  Clavifiisas  cooperi,  Crepidiiln  dnraosa, 
Mnrex  mantelli,  3F.  sepf.emnarins,  IVrehrn  poliji/ijra,  Serpula  sqiiamu- 
losa,  Cjjfhered  nuf.f(tllt',  C.  inortonl,  Ostrea  (jeorgiana,  and  Sciitella 
lyelh\  now  Mortonia  hjellt;  und  from  more  recent  Tertiary  r*f  the 
Sonthern  States,  AnatuKi.  antlqiia,  now  Periploma  antiqua,  Saxi.cavn 
pecf.orofia,  Pa  lorn  areno'^a^  Tellina  dec/iiu's,  T.  ef/eiia,  Cytherea  •ho- 
vafa,  C.  pffnddid,  C.  reposta,  Aviphidesmn  suhrejlextnn,  Asljirte  '..on 
centrica,  A.  Innulafa,  A.  obni/a^  A.  symmetrica,  Balanus  pyofeiis; 
Fascinlaria  muiabilis,  Tii7'biiie//.a  donissa,  Canrellarla.  perxpectiX't,  ('.. 
plttfjiostomn,  Trochns  be/fas.^  T.  labrosas,  T.  InpidosKs,  T.  ^nitchelH,  T. 
phihintropus^  PleHrofoma  hiscafe/iaria,  P.  fiicil/fera,  P.  j>yreiioidcs, 
P.  fricatenari't,  P.  viryiniaaa.  Turbo  caperaf.ns,  Manjinella  ebnrneola, 
31.  Ihnafiila,  Solarium  anperum.  now  Archifectonica  nupera,  Delphi 
nuhi  lyra,  now  Carinorhis  lyra,  Actoion  novel/ us,  Deiif.a/ium  fhallns, 
Fissurella  alticostn,  F.  (jriscomi,  fn/nndibuliim  r/yrini'/m,  Capnlus 
higubris,  Turrite/la  alticosfata,  T.  oatonaria,  Cancellaria  alfernata, 
Pecten  decemnarins,  P.  royersi,  Lepton  mactroides,  and  Tellinn  bipli- 
cata. 

He  also  nicntioned  the  following  Pliocene  fossils,  wiiich  are  to  be 
found  living  on  the  coast  of  the  United  States,  to  wit:  Area  transversa, 
Cytherea  sayana,  C.  yiyantea,  Pholas  costata,  Ostrea  virqiniana,  Soleii 
ensis,  Amp)hid?,sma  inequale,  Saxicava  rugosa,  V^ni's  mercenaria. 
Panop)ea  rejlexa,  Jfactra  tellinoides,  Pandora  friUneala,  Cardita  fri- 
denfata,  Lucina  conlraeta,  L,  crenulata,  L.  divaricjita,  Corbida  con- 
tracta,  Crepidulata  convexa,  C.  glanca,  C.  plana,  Lafraria  canalicu- 
lata,  Fnsus  cinerens,  Wassa  trivitfata,  N".  liinata,  Nafica  duplicata, 
J^.  heros,  Fulgnr  carica,  F.  canaliculahis,  Jfactra  lateralis,  Scalarin 
clathrus,  and  Vermetus  lumbricalis.  This  list  does  not  include  fossils 
of  the  newer  Pliocene. 

In  1836,  Trof.  Ed\:ard  Hitchcock*  described,  from  the  Miocene  at 
Portland,  Maine,  Nucala  portlandica. 

Dr.  Samuel  G.  Mortonf  described,  from  u  Miocene  '  r  Pliocene  de 
posit,  near   iMarietta,  Ohio,    Unio  pctrosii.s,  U.  saxulum,  U.   terrenus, 
U.  tumiflati/s,  and  Anodonta  ahyssina 

In  1837,  Win.  li.  and  Henry  D.  Kogers;];  described  the  Tertiary-  in  the 
counties  of  Elizabeth  City,  Warwick,  Yorii,  James  City,  Va.,  and  the 
lower  extremities  of  New  Kent  and  Charles  City,  having  a  total  lengtli 


*Bost.  Jour.Nnt.  Hist.,  vol.  i.,  pt.  3. 
t  Am.  .Ii)ur.  Sci.  and  Xtis,  vol.  xxix, 
X  Trims.  Am.  Phil.  Soc,  vol.  v. 


Mesozoic  a»d  C'oiozoic   Geology  and  Pahnonfology. 


W, 


t'ligtli 


of  about  fifty  miles,  and  a  mean  breadth  of  fourteen  miles.  The  super- 
ficial stratum  is  au  ar<rillaceous  and  ferrui^inous  sand,  of  a  yellow  or 
re(idisU  color,  with  an  occasional  pebble  or  small  bowlder  of  sandstone, 
or  a  white,  silicious  sand.  Beneath  this  superficial  layer,  occasionally 
ar<>jillaceo'.is  beds  of  clay  are  found,  of  a  yellow,  blue,  green,  red  or 
variegated  color.  In  soino  places  this  clay  is  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
i'eet  in  thickness.  Below  this  stratum  there  is  usually  found  a  red 
ferruginous  layer,  from  an  inch  ^o  a  foot  in  thickness.  Beneath  this 
layer  there  is  a  yellowish  brown  sand,  frequently  containing  a  large 
proportion  of  clay,  a!:  of  which  is  barren  of  shells.  Below  these  su- 
perficial layers  occur  the  various  shell  beds  of  Miocene  sand  and  clay, 
from  which  these  authors  described  THmteUrt  quad)  intriafn,  T.  ter- 
sfrinfn,  N'atica  pevsperJiva.  Fissirrel/ti  cnfilliformis^  Area  protrncta^ 
Liicina  speciosa,  and  Venus  corfindi'Ui.  They  also  described,  from  the 
Eocene greensnnd,  KHCuln  raltellij'ormis^  now  Nnciilana  cnUeUiforniis, 
K.  pan^a,  and  Cytherea  ooata,  now  D/one  ovnf.a. 

In  ISilS,  Mr.  Conrad*  said  that  the  most  northern  locality  known  to 
be  decidedly  of  Medial  Tertiary  age,  is  in  Cumberland  county,  N.  J., 
from  whence  the  deposits  extend  southward  in  a  very  connected  series, 
and  are  spread  over  a  large  portion  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard.  The 
eastern  shore  of  Maryland  is  chietiy  composed  of  this  and  the  superior 
formations,  bvit  the  greensand  occasionally  appears.  The  Medial  Ter- 
tiary occupies  all  tha':  portion  of  the  western  peninsula  south  of  a  line 
running  from  Annapolis  to  Fort  Washington,  on  the  Potomac,  and 
nearly  all  that  part  of  Virginia  which  lies  east  of  a  line  ruiu\ing 
through  Fredericksburg,  Richmond  and  Petersburg,  to  Halifax,  in 
North  Carolina,  in  which  State  the  formation  expands  to  its  greatest 
breadth.  Tlie  lowest  stratum  of  the  Medial  Tertiary  is  clay;  the  upper 
stratum  sand;  and  the  intermediate  strata  are  composed  of  sand  and 
day,  either  pure  or  intermixed.  The  general  surface  of  the  country  is 
level,  and  it  was  originally  covered  with  a  forest  of  pine  trees.  The 
western  limit  is  bounded  by  a  narrow  strip  of  the  lower,  or  Eocene 
Tertiary,  which  reposes  upon  Cretaceous  strata.  He  described,  from 
the  'SUoi^enGj  3fy(i  prodncfa,  Piindoracrassidens,  Phohidomyfi  ahriipfa, 
Pdnopntn  american( ,  Corbnid  elef((f(t,  Venus  fef.riaa,  V.  ducofelt,  now 
Mercendr/a  ducatelf,  V.  rilcyt,  Cytherea  metastriata,  Sphairella  sub- 
rexa,  Saxicava  bilinedta,  JIacfrn  iucrassata,  Jf.  subcuneafa,  Vardium 
acutilaquefttum,  Lucina  crenulnta.,  Venus  hitisnlcatn.  now  Euloxa 
latisulcata,  Astarte  arata,  A.  cuneiformis,   A.  perplana,  A.  cohenf., 


P^ 


*■  Fossils,  Tertiary  Formations. 


--T7V 


158 


Tertiary. 


PeQten  virginkiinis,  Ostren  percrassa,  0.  suhfafcatn,  O.  srulpfiira(a,0. 
disparilis^  M ijoconcha  iiicxrva,  Modiola  ditcatelL  now  Volsella  duca- 
teli,  Byssoarca  marylandira,  and  Ai'ca  caUip/enrd. 

Prof.  Emmons*  (lesfribcd  the  Tertiaiy  of  Lake  Cham  plain  as  con- 
sisting of  clays  and  sands,  embracing,  to  some  extent,  marine  shells  of 
recent  age — the  whole  formation  in  Essex  county,  New  York,  not  ex- 
ceeding fifty  feet  in  thickness,  and  averaging  only  from  twenty  to 
twenty- five  feet.  From  above,  downward,  the  strata  are,  first,  a  fine 
white,  or  3'cllowish  white,  marine  sand;,  second,  a  yellowish  clay;  and 
third,  a  blue  clay.  The  yellowish  clay  abounds  with  argillo-calcareons 
concretions,  of  all  shapes  and  forms,  which  appear  to  iiave  been  formed 
by  molecular  attraction,  since  the  deposition  of  the  beds.  On  the 
New  York  side  of  the  lake,  it  does  not  foi-m  a  continuous  deposit  from 
the  head  of  the  lake  to  its  outlet,  but  interruptions  occur  where  the 
older  strata  reach  the  lake  shore.  On  the  Vermont  side,  it  covers  a 
much  ureater  extent  of  surface,  and  reaches  from  the  lake  to  the  base 
of  the  Green  Mountains,  or  from  six  to  twelve  miles.  The  heigiit 
above  the  level  of  the  lake  to  which  it  extends,  is  about  two  hundred 
feet.  This  ancient  sea  occupied  the  Chainplain  basin,  and  the  Hud- 
son forming  a  continuous  arm  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Hudson,  at  New  York. 

In  18U9,  Prof.  Charles  T.  Jacksonf  mentioned  a  recent  marine 
Tertiary  deposit,  at  Augusta,  Maine,  eighty-two  feet  above  the  level  of 
the  Kennebec  river,  where  it  is  said  to  form  the  substratum  of  a  laro-o 
portion  of  the  valley. 

Win.  B.  and  Henry  D.  Rogers;];  described  the  Tertiary  in  the 
counties  of  Lancaster,  Northumberland,  Richmond,  Westmoreland, 
King  George,  and  the  eastern  part  of  Stafford,  in  Virginia;  thus  in- 
cluding the  peninsula  between  the  Potomac  and  Rappahannock  rivers. 
This  area  forms  the  northern  portion  of  the  Tertiary  of  Virginia. 
The  Miocene  extends  from  near  the  l)ay  shore,  westward  over  the 
larger  portion  of  the  peninsula,  while  the  Eocene  occupies  the  remain- 
ing area  on  the  west.  Tliev  dcscril)ed  from  the  Miocene,  Tnrr/.teUa 
Jtvxionalis  and  Fasciolarin  rhomhoidea;  and  from  the  Eocene. 
Cytherea  lenficiilan's,  now  Dosiiiiop.sis  /eiif/cidaris,  CrassatelUi  capri- 
cranium,  Cucullnea  ononcheila,  now  Latiarca  ononcheila,  C.  trans- 
versa, now  L.  transversa  and  Venericardia  ascia. 


*  Geo.  Rep.  N.  Y.,  18:58. 

i  Third  Annual  Rep.  (Jco.  of  Maine. 

I  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc,  vol.  vi. 


~  Mesozoir,  and  CUmozoic  Oeolofjy  and  P(il(vont<jh)(jij,  159 

"NVm.  Wagnoi'*  described,  fi-oni  the  Miocene  and  older  IMioceno, '  of 
Muryhind  and  Nortli  Carolina,  Venus  /'noccri/ormifi,  Pccten  m<iry- 
landicn.s,  Panopd'tt  <jo/dJ'nsst',  Mysia  nuclGiforniiSy  and  .  rochas 
ebo^ens. 

In  1840,  Mr.  Conradf  described,  irotn  the  Miocene  at  C  lapcl  Hill, 
\ortli  Carolina,  Fidyur  exc(W(ihis,  F.  ('onfrnrlim,  Conns  i  Jv^rsdriur,, 
and  Volntd  rdroUnens/'s,  now  3Iilrn  raroUrensis. 

The  TertiaiT  extends  iVoin  the  lower  limit  of  the  Cretaceons,  in 
Connccticnt,;);  to  the  lower  part  of  Kent  county,  and  has  a  thickness  of 
12o  feet. 

It  is  found§  at  Gay  Head,  Martha's  Vineyard,  and  occnining  Long- 
Island  and  the  eastern  part  of  the  Atlantic  States  from  New  Jersey  to 
Floi'ida,  and  the  southern  part  of  the  ^Mississippi  valley. 

Henry  C.  Lea||  described,  from  the  Eocene  at  Claiborne,  Alabama, 
Pasifhea  ('(tncellafa,  1\  e/egtms,  P.  mtni'ma,  Actn'on  Juris,  A.  m(i(/no- 
idlcdtus,  ScaVirid  elerjans,  S.  rennsfa,  Tnrbo  parrns,  Trorhns  phinn- 
1(1  fns,  TuvrifelUi  monUifera,  T,  graciJis,  Tnrbinclhi  fnsoidcs,  Plcnro- 
lonid  cdncelldfnm,  Triton  pyi'dmiddtn.m,  Terebra  constricta,  T.  mnlti- 
plicata,  Cnnci'lliirid  pnleherrinu/,  BHceinuni  pdrvnni^  Mitrd  ebnrnea, 
M.  elegans,  J/,   fjydcilis,  Conns  pdnins,  jind    Volnid  dnbia. 

T.  A.  Conrad^  (lescrit)ed,  from  the  Middle;  Tei'tiary  at  tlu;  Natural 
Well,  Duplin  county.  North  Carolina,  Ainphidesnia  consfricfnm,  now 
FdbelJd  conslrirtd,  liuccinnm  infcrynpfnni,  li.  mnlf.irnf/afn7n.  now 
Plychosdlplnx  mnltii'ncjdtd,  Cai'ditd  perpland.  Cassis  hod(j(u\  now 
Gdleodid  hodyei,  Cerifhinni  carolinense,  now  Terebra  cdroUnensis, 
C.  nnilineatnm,  now  2\  nnilinedt,a,  Cyprwa  caro/inGnsis,  Dispotcea 
duniosa,  D.  rnultilineata,  Gnathodon  minor,  now  Jidntjia  minor,  In- 
fnndibulum  cent  rale,  Lurina  radians,  L.  frisn/cafa,  Lnnidifc.s  denti- 
rnlafus,  now  Discoporella  denficn/ata,  Mactra  crassidens,  M.  snljpa- 
rilis,  N'atica  caroliniana.  M.  percallosa,  PecfunmUis  carolinens/s^iw.d 
P.  qninqnernyatn.s;  fron  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  Amphidesina 
nncvloides,  A.  protextam,  Cardinni  snJ>lineafnm,,  Cardita  abbrcriata, 
Pecfnnrnlus  raroJinensis,  and  /*.  arafns. 

Prof.  Emmons**  found  the  direction  of  the  drift  scratches  and  scor- 
ings of  rock,  in   the  eastern  i)art  of  New  York,  confoiniing  to  that  of 


'■"  .Tour.  .\('!iil.  Xiit.  Sci.,  vol.  viii..  pt.  1. 
t  Am.  .four.  Sci.  and  Art.',  vol.  x.x.xix. 
1  (ifo.  Siir.  (if  l)('!:nv;ir(',  ISJI. 

I  (ico.  ot'.MMSHiiclmsctts,  IMl. 

II  Am.  .Tour.  Si-i.  ;iii(l  Arts,  vol.  xi. 
IT  Am.  .Tour.  Sci.  innl  Arts,  vol.  xli. 
■■*  Geo.  2dDist.X.  Y.,  1812. 


160 


Tertiary. 


the  great  vallc\'s.  In  tlio  Oliuinphiin  vallov,  it  is  nearly  nortli  and 
soiitli;  and  in  tiie  St.  Lawrenee  valley,  nortlusast  and  southwest.  The 
marine  Tertiary  of  Cluiuiplain,  tliongh  deposited  in  quiet  waters,  al- 
ways overlies  the  scored  and  grooved  surfaces.  The  l)owlders  succeed 
this  Tertiary  or  are  mixed  with  it.  It  is  mineralogicaily  composed  in  as- 
cending order,  of  first,  a  stilf  blue   clay;   second,  a  yellowish   l)r()wn 


eiav 


an 


d  third,  a  yellowisli  brown  sand.     The  second  o\ves  its  color 


to  weathering  rather  than  to  any  important  dillereiice  in  its  composi- 
tion from  the  lower  clay.  Sand  begins  to  ajqx.'ar  in  tlio  yellowish  clay, 
and  increases  gradually  until  it  predomimitcs,  and  finally  becomes  a 
pui'C  siliceous  fiand.  No  fossils  liail  then  l)i'en  discovered  in  the  clay, 
but  in  the  clay  and  sand  and  upper  part  of  the  group  fossils  are  I'onnd 
as  if  in  llieir  native  habitat,  exceedingly  frail,  preserving  their  mark 
ings  and  edges  entire,  forbidding  the  idea  that  they  could  have  been 
drifted  into  tlu.'ir  present  position.  In  protected  places,  as  at  Port 
Kent  and  iJeaitport,  the  thickness  of  th.;  group  is  aliout  100  I'eet.  In 
unprotected  |)laces,  the  larger  part  of  the  group  has  been  swept  away. 

(commencing  at  Whitehall,  at  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain,  it  may 
lie  traced  continuously  not  only  the  entire  length  of  the  lake,  but  also 
to  Quebec  and  far  toward  the  Gulf  of  St.  I.nwrence.  It  lines  the  St. 
Lawrence  river  as  fitras  Ogdensburg.  And  from  AVhitehall  south  it 
linvs  the  Hudson  river  for  a  long  distance.  The  Albany  chi}'  belongs 
to  this  group,  and  is  therefore  one  of  the  most  recent  of  our  marine 
formations. 

Ml',  ('onrad*  described,  from  the  "Miocene  at  Calvert  Clili's,  IMary- 
land,  J'cnus  latiUratd,  tUjiherea  sohnasutu,  Lvcina  forcnuDit,  L.  xnb- 
plditd/d,  Cardiu)!/  leptopleura,  Astarle  rcriciis,  A.  exaliafo,  Liin(( 
papyrid,  Area  t^nbroslrdtd^  Pleiir()lo}ii<i  )ii('rylii)i(lictirii,  J\  belh'vrcna- 
t((>n,  TrovJitis  perdlve(((iis,  SadnrUi  pdchyplenrc,  Sohiriitm  fri/l'icddon, 
now  Arvhitcctoiiica  IriUneala^  Iir/'ioidibu/inii  perarmtitum,  Flssurellc 
mdri/hiinlicfi,  Dispola'.a  rainotid,  Cditcelldrid  bij)lic/'J'erd,  C  enyoiidtd, 
BditdUd  h'liedtd,  Tarritelld  indentd,  T.cxdltutd,  T.  perlaqueata,  Jf<(r- 
giiieJ/d  prrexHjud.  And  also  Astrea  maryldndicd,  incrusting  Pec!,en 
madisoiu'iis  on  James  river,  Virginia;  A.  he/lc,  from   Newbern,  North 


Caroli 


n;i 


(kirdiioii  nicu/letti,    now  Protocardid  nlcuUetfi,    (rom  the 


Lower    Tertiary  or    Jackson    Group,  on    the  Washita  river,   Monroe 
county,  Louisian;i;  and  Fii;,ii.i  pdchylciirns,  from  the  Lower  Tertiary  of 


Alal 


)aina. 


Edmund  Ravenel|  described,  from  a  Pliocene  calcareous  deposit  on 


Jdiir.  Acail.  Js'at.  Sci.,  vol.  viii.,  iit    2. 


t  yiy''l. 


Meso.~oi.(-  and  C<ft)ozoic  Geohxjy  and  PaUvontoloijii. 


i»;i 


G(nii)(M'  river,  .'iboul  seventeen  miles  from  CiiMrloston,  South  Ciirolinn, 
Scafe/la  carolin/ana.  now  Jfc'/ffa  carolinia na^  and  /S'.  inacropliora^ 
now  Europe  viacrop/iora. 

In  184:1,  'Wv.  Conrad^'-'  dcscrihod,  from  the  Miocene  tit  "Xewherii. North 
Carolina,  C'lill's  of  (Jalvert,  .^laryland,  Petersburg,  Vir^uinla.  and  other 
places.  Cardifamera  carinala^  C  profrarJa,  Area  friqiiefra.  ynnila 
licidta,  Pc('/H/i(')ilifs  pari'lh,  ]*cvfen  h/fDniiis,  ]\  /riccnai'ins,  P.  rii-an- 
ar/iis.  Tcllina  laevis,  Lncijia  mnfh'slriafd,  Amphidesmc  (iqufiiinn, 
CrufisafeUa  fur(/idi(l(i,  Cvepldula  spinosa,  Fiihjnr  /■in/osus,  Jinvrhnna 
hilex.  B.  fllieatiiin^  B./ossiilafmn^B.  Ueno.siDn,  Ji.  praeniptum,  li.  pvo- 
ffaci'mn,  B.  scxdenfafam,  CanceUaria  corbula,  Oliva  (hipJicarf.  Pj/ra- 
midelUi  ai'oiosa,  Fksus  migrans,  F.  devexns,  Voh'f.a  iin/tah/'/is,  Ortihi 
iofa,  Jlonodoiifa  exo/ef'i,  Echiiws  imprnccyus,  E.  philanthvopus, 
Venus  crlbraria,  PlicaluJa  dcnsafa,  Crepidu/a  dcn^idfa,  Area  propft- 
tulii,  now  GraiKxfrcK  jircpafula,  a  sul)iie»us  of  Barbdlla,  A.  siut/aris, 
Ci/rejid  dentiafd,  Jfd<'/,rd  fvlquefrd,  I'enns  cdpax,  Arlonis  clcjjdns, 
Lorlpes  clerala,  SoJen  direrfnfi,  S.  cnsifurniis,  Ti'm'/clJc  bipavf.ita, 
Scdidt'ia  proccra,  Pleiiro/ohtd  ntulliseclnm..  BKcdnunt  haj'pidoides, 
FusK.s  f'ann'd)inns.  Tcfcbrd  ciirrilirata,  TiirbinoUa  p/'/cofits,  Spdlanrjns 
orlhonotH!^,  now  Ampln'dehist  orfhonofus;  from  the  Eoc-ene  at  Chapel 
Hill,  North  Carolina.  Tellina  ai'ctala;  from  Pamunkey  river,  A'irg,inia, 
Anoinia  r>ijfini\  and  IVom  the  Jackson  Grou}),  Anouu'd  ji'i/osa..  lie 
said,  tliat  in  a  ^i'w  hours'  examination  of  the  Afiocene  marl,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Petersburo;  Ya.,  he  was  enabled  to  collect  about  100  distinct 
species.  This  locality  is  the  western  limit  of  the  Miocene,  winch  is 
here  based  on  gM-anite,  and  is  the  spot,  in  which,  to  search  for  the  estu- 
ary and  fresh  water  shells  of  the  Miocene  pei'iod.  The  elevation  is 
considerably  more  than  100  feet  above  tide,  and  as  the  rise  decreases 
toward  the  sea,  it  is  probable  that  the  primary  rocks  continued  to 
be  U[)lifted  even  after  the  era  of  the  Miocene;  indeed,  how  c;in  we 
otherwise  account  for  the  elevation  of  fossiliferous  beds,  even  of  those 
of  the  Post-i)liocene  period. 

It  is  an  interesting-  fact  that  the  Miocene  estuaries  were  inhabited 
by  two  species  of  bivalves,  now  extinct,  of  the  same  two  genera  which 
still  occur  in  similar  situations  in  Florida  and  Alabama,  that  is  at  the 
conlluence  of  rivers  and  bays,  where  the  water  is  nearly  fresh.  These 
genera  are  Gnathodon  and  Cyrena,  both  of  the  family  Oj/i'eni'die.  The 
extinct  Gnathodon  has  a  considerable  I'escmblance  to  the  recent 
species,  but  the  Cyrena  is  widely  different  from  the  living  shell.     These 


.,,;,( 


v|* 


*  Proc.  Aoiitl.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  i. 


T^P 


fX 


1G2 


Terfiorii. 


Ibsnils  ;ir('  froqiuMilly  WiitcM'-woni,  always  with  disunitod  valves,  a\ul 
appear  to  have  hopii  transported.  Occasionally  a  specimen  occurs  not 
in  the  least  abraded,  a  circumstance  which  indicates  th(>  vicinity  of 
tlie  Petersl)ur<4'  deposits  to  the  mouth  of  the  river.  The  strata  occur  in 
a  meadow,  and  consist  of  blue  marl,  of  a  sandy  texture,  often  inter- 
mixed with  small  gravel  and  ferruginous  sand,  full  of  shells  ;  there  is 
here  also  a  proportion  of  gravel,  of  rounded  quartz,  occasionally  of 
hirgo  size.  Water- worn  fragments  of  bivalves  are  abundantly  inter- 
mingled with  entire  shells,  and  many  species  occur  with  connected 
valves.  'I'his  is  particularly  the  case  with  the  burrowing  shells,  as 
Pa)i(>p(i:f(,  but  also,  though  less  frequently,  with  the  large  Venus  tri- 
dactioidcs,  Crassute/la  undiilata,  Asfarfe  concenfrica,  Cytherea  al- 
harld,  two  species  of  (Hifona,  and  even  two  spe(!ies  of  Ostrea  are  not 
uncommon;  but  there  is  nothing  like  an  oyster  bed  in  these  stjata 
which  might  indicate  shoal  water.  'J'he  i)ro|)ortion  of  oysters  to  the 
other  bivalves  is  about  the  same  which  the  dredge  furnished  at  the 
mouth  of  Ca[)e  P'ear  river,  North  Carolina,  at  the  depth  of  eight 
fathoms. 

In  1844,  Prof.  J.  W.  Bailey*  identified  numerous  living  Infusorial 
forms  with  the  fossil  Infusoria,  from  the  Miocene  at  Petersburg,  Va., 
and  Piscataway,  ]N[d.,  and  described  several  new  species. 

Mr.  Conradf  described,  from  the  Miocene,  at  Petersburg,  Va.,  (Jrepi- 
duhi  c;/mha!formi.s ;  from  the  Eocene  at  Marlbourne,  Hanovor  count}'. 
Va.,  Cijtherea  erersa,  C.  liciata,  C.  subimpressa;  from  Stafford  count}', 
Va,,  C.  P!i(i((  ;  from  Claiborne,  Ala.,  Cardita  densata  ;  and  from  near 
Santee,  South  Carolina,  Pecien  elLratAis. 

Dr.  Edmund  Ravenel  described,  fiom  the  Miocene  of  South  Carolina, 
Pecfen  morfoiif, ;  from  the  Eocene,  Terehratidd  canipcs,  and  Scutella, 
pileiissinensis,  now  Mortonia  pilenssinensis.  And  Dr.  Robert  W. 
Gibbes  described,  from  a  bed  of  green  sand  near  the  Santee  canal,  and 
about  three  miles  from  the  head  waters  of  Cooi)er  river.  South  Carolina, 
Dorudo))  sc.j'i'aftis'.'l 

In  1845,  Prof.  James  Ilall^  described,  from  Tertiary,  slaty,  bitumin 
ous  limestone,  on  the  dividing  ridge   between   the  waters  of  Mudily 
river  flowing  eastward,  and  those  of  iNIuddy  creek  flowing  into  Bear 
river  on  the   west,    in  long.   Ill  deg.,  lat.   40  deg.,  3fya   fellinoides, 


''■'  \m.  Jour.  Sci.  iinil  Arts,  vol.  xlvi. 
t  I'roc.  Aciul.  Niit.  Sci.,  vol.  ii. 

t  'riiis  species  was  erroiuously  meutioneil  as  Cretaceous  on  page  15,  vol.  iii,.  of  this 
.lounial,  or  page  51  of  this  article. 
5  Fremont's  Kxpl.  Exped. 


3Icsoz(>/'('  and  flcBnozni'c  Qcoloffi/  mid   P<(hvonfolo(j!). 


IG:^ 


now  Unio  fellinoidcs,  PlenyofonKiria  inu'unyidafn^  (■erifhiinii  frctnoiiH, 
C.  tcneram,  now  Gotiiobasis  fetiard,  Natica  (?)  OGcfdenfnlis,  and  Tur- 
bo jxdndhmfot'mis,  now  Viiu'/xn'Hs  palKdiud'/onnis. 

Willi.'ini  Lonsdale*  (lescril)od,  from  the  MioeiMi  >  of  Virginia,  (Udmn- 
naria  sexrffdiatd,  ITctevopora  foi'fil/s,  now  Jlidticrescis  tortiiis,  Es- 
ch'irfiin  ti(midi(hf,\ui\Y  Cellcpora  f nmldnht ^Cquadra ii(iHl(iris,\\o\\  Eep- 
focxlleporarin  qtixdrniirftdan's,  (J.  hifoviudfa,  now  li.  itiformata,  ^ '. 
■simllis,  now  R.  slmllh,  C  umbiUcnta,  now  MuUiporind  Kinbilicatd. 
From  the  Edccmo,  Ocellaria  ramo.sa,  Fl(dteiln}ii,  ciDiei/orme,  Dcndro- 
phyJIia  J(i'vi,s,  ('l((docer<(  recresceihs,  ddryophjilliti  siihdicholomd,  Id)iio- 
nea  comin/srens,  T.  niaxUhirh,  IlippoUioa  iiiberculum,  now  Pyrijlns- 
trella  tubercnii'^  Eschard  iticumbens,  E.  j^etiob's,  E.  tubiddtd,  E. 
vlmmea,  E.  lined,  now  KsrlidriiKdld  lined,  Lnnidifcx  distans,  L.  sex- 
dii(jiddft/s,  and  L.  c(jiiH(/inis.  Lycll  and  Soweihy  doscrihcd  Terchrd- 
fidd  ioilini)}(/toi}ei).sis,  now  Jihijnchouelld  ivi/)iiiii(jfoiiei)sis,  an<l  Cei'i- 
fhiiim  dGoryianinn.  And  Edward  Forbes  described,  Scntella  joiiesii 
now  Clypedster  joiiGsi. 

In  1810,  Mr.  C!onradf  demonstrated  that  tiie  wlute  limestone  of 
Southern  Alabama  and  JNIississippi,  which  had  been  previously  classed 
wirh  the  upper  Cretaceous  rocks,  belongs  more  properly  with  the 
lower  Eocene,  and  described  Dentdlinm  drcifonnis,  Fishddna  Idrvd^ 
Lntrarid  Idpidosa,  now  Pteropsis  IdpidDna,  CvassdteUd  rhoiabuided, 
C.pdlmuln,  A)nphidesma  tellinuld,  Tclliiid  sillimani,  T.  raveaeli,  and 
Lucind  onodesta. 

He  found  evidences  of  the  Eocenej;  and  Miocene  in  East  Florida, 
and  described  the  Tertiary  of  WarrcMi  county,  Mississipi)i,  and  stated, 
that  it  marks  a  distinct  era  in  the  American  Tertiary  system  inter- 
mediate to  the  Eocene  and  Miocene,  I)ut  more  nearly  alli(Hl  to  the  for- 
mer, lie  describeil  the  Eocene  at  Vicksburg,  and  in  the  bluffs  on  the 
Mississippi  river,  and  defined,  from  the  Tpijcr  Eocene  limestone  of 
Tampa  Bay,  Bulimns  Jloriddnns;  Build  petrosd,  Kumnudites  Jlori- 
ddiius,  Cristellaria  rotelln,  Venus  penifd,  novv  Cryphoyramma  pen  ltd, 
V.Jloriddnd,  now  C.Jloridaiid,  Xucula  tcllinnla,  Vyfhevca  Jloridana, 
and  Bcddnus  fin  mil  is, 

Dr,  Dickeson§  described,  from  the  blue  clay  that  underlies  the  dilu- 
vial drift  oast  of  Natchez,  Mississippi,  a  fossil,  os  innomindfinn,  tiiat 
once  belonged,  as  he  supposed,  to  a  young  man  about  IG  years  of  age. 


*  Quiir.  Jour.  Oeo.  Sdi-.  Loud.,  vol.  i. 
t  Am.  .Tour.  ^>fi.  and  Arts,  i!il  scr.,  vol.  i. 
t  Am.  .four.  Sci.  und  Arts,  id  ser.,  vol.  ii. 
'i  I'roc.  Aeiid.  Nat.  Sci.,  voi.  I'ii. 


mw 


104 


Terfidry. 


#11 


It  was  foimd  bonciilli  Llie  fossil  hones  ol'  {.\w  Me(/(i/oiii/.,',ji>/l'ers()i//\  and 
Mastodon  (fi(/fni leinn. 

In  J847,  W.  Vj.  Lo<4!Hi*  (bmK'l  niariiio  tostacoa  alony  the  valley  of 
tlio  Ottawa,  ill  llie  clays  and  sands  thai  form  tli(>  siipf  rficial  deposits. 
These  dci)osits  eover  the  wliolo  valley  of  the  south  Petite  Xatioiiand 
its  triI)Mtaries  ;  and  occur  in  Teniph.'ton,  Hull,  Xepeaii,  raciu-i.hani, 
and  Filzroy,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississii)[»i  ai.d  Madawaska,  They 
were  found  in  Fitzroy.  iJIJO  feet  al)ovc  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  in 
Nepeaii,  -110  feet  above  the  sea,  where  Sa.c/cfira  nuiasd  occurs  in  the 
g-rav(>l.  At  the  mouth  of  Gattineau,  ueai-  IJytown,  not  only  mai-ine 
shells  were  discovered,  but  in  nodules  of  indurated  clay  the  Jfullofjrs 
villosi/s,  or  common  ca[)eling,  a  small  (ish,  which  still  frequents  the 
shores  of  the  Gnif  of  St.  Lawrence,  was  obtained  in  vast  nun)I)ers. 

CIrooves  aifd  scratches  on  tlie  surfaces  of  the  rocks  were  met  with 
on  the  Gattineau,  between  Farmer's  and  r.lasdelTs  mills,  liavinj;-  a  direc- 
tion S.  I'Ap  E  ;  on  Glen's  creek  in  I'ackenham,  N.  and  S.  ;  on  the  Alln- 
mettes  Lake,  at  iNIontgomery's  clearino-,  S.  25°  E.  The  shores 
of  Lake  Teiniscamang,  which  is  lon^-  and  narrow,  and  has  banks 
bold  and  rocky,  rise  into  hills  '200  to  400,  and  sometimes 
500  fet^t  above  its  surface.  The  general  valley  of  the  lake  thus 
bounded  presents  several  gentle  turns,  the  dii'ections  connected 
with  two  of  which,  reaching  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Keepawa.  river 
(35  miles),  are  158°,  101°,  15(5°  numbering  the  degrees  from  north 
as  zero  around  by  east.  The  parallel  grooves  in  these  reaches  of  the 
valU'y  turn  precisely  with  them,  as  if  the  bounds  of  the  valley  had 
been  the  guiding  cause  of  their  bearings,  and  they  are  registered  on 
various  rounded  and  polished  surfaces  projecting  into  the  lake,  and 
sometimes  rising  to  30  and  40  feet  over  its  level.  These  projecting 
points  did  not  dellect  the  gi'ooved  lines  in  the  slighest  degree.  In  one 
case,  where  the  projecting  point  is  35  feet  high,  the  furrows  were  ob- 
served to  move  over  it  without  an}*  deflection  whatever  ;  so  that,  what- 
ever botly,  moving  downward  in  the  valley,  may  have  caused  the 
grooves,  it  was  not  deflected  by  meeting  an  obstacle  35  feet  higher 
than  tlie  surface  of  the  lake.  On  die  top  of  this  projecting  point, 
the  grooves  are  crossed  by  another  pai'allel  set  at  an  angle  of  15°. 

The  C)ompany's  Post  stands  on  a  point  on  the  east  side,  which  cuts 
the  lake  nearly'  in  two,  at  about  18  miles  from  the  head,  and  it  is  oppo- 
site a  less  prominent  point  on  the  other  side.  These  points  approach 
to  within  a  (juarter  of  a  mile  of  one  another.     Both    are    composed   of 


*  Geo.  Si(r.  Can. 


Mesozoic  071(7  (Uvnozoic   Geoloiji/  anil   I'dhnontolofjy. 


ir.r, 


sand  Mild  !^TiiV('l,  wliidi,  on  tlu;  cast,  tonii  a  liill  l-'U)  feet  lii^li.  TIk' 
soutlu'rii  fai'o  of  tliis  hill  riiiiH  in  tlu>  bcarinu,"  (5,')°,  ami  the  yravcl  \n- 
Avard  the  eastward  rests  on  flat  sandstone  strata,  which  have  a  sii.ootli 
and  partially  rounded  surCact'.  The  gravel  and  the  rock  constiintc  the 
north  siiU'ol'a  dee})  hay.  The  ii()lislie(l  rock  surface  exhiliils  wdl 
iiiarkeil  Lii'oovcs,  which  come  IVoiii  beneath  the  uraxcl  hill,  nearly  at 
ri<>'ht  annles  to  the  maiLiin  of  the  water.  'I'lierc;  is  here,  as  in  some 
otlier  instances,  more  than  one  set  of  parallel  scratches.  Two  of  these 
sets  cross  one  anothci-  in  the  directions  110°  ;iiid  lUO^.  \n  the  eastcni 
bay,  at  the  head  of  the  lake,  near  the  moulh  of  thcOttei-  river,  paiallcl 
groo\'es  were  remarked  riinuinii  in  the  luariiru'  Id")",  which  is  tlicu[)- 
ward  direction  of  the  valley  of  that  stream;  and  about  ;i  mile  west- 
ward of  the  IJlanciie,  in  the  sann;  bay,  in  the  bearing'  I'lO^,  partakinuf 
of  tiu,'  direction  of  the  v.'iUey,  bounded  by  the  escaipmeiit  n['  the 
limestone  described  as  runiiinn,-  l)ack  into  the  interior.  On  the 
cast  siile  of  the  lak(>.  three  liowlders  were  reinarkcil,  which  had  been 
moved  by  the  ice  the  previous  winter.  One  of  them  measiiriuLi'  .'!2 
cubic  feet,  li:id  been  nu)Ved  nine  feet  in  the  (liiection  00'^;  ;iiif>tlier  lOO 
cubic  feet,  had  been  moved  twelv(^  feet  in  the  direction  ll'AP;  another 
80  cubic  feet,  had  been  moved  I  i  feet  in  the  direction  :i")()°;  each  had 
left  Ix'hind  it  a  deep,  broad  fui'i'ow  throuji;h  the  liravel  of  the  beach 
down  to  the  clay  beneath.  In  front  ol  the  lirst  was  accumnlated  a 
heap  of  <2,ravel,  one  foot  hinli,  with  an  area  of!)  square  fecst;  in  fVont  of 
the  second  was  an  accumuiation  of  small  i)o'vlders  wei<;hing  from  SO  to 
lO'i  lbs.  each.  To  move  the  second  and  third,  the  [troiiress  of  tin.'  ic(! 
must  have  Iiccn  up  the  lake,  and  tin?  first  across  it.  Had  tin;  t!,i;i\el 
rested  on  the  surface  of  a  rock  instead  of  ela\',  parallel  scratches  would 
have  l)ecn  the  result  in  each  ease. 

Thei'e  ar(>  deej),  water-worn  holes  on  Mio  banks  of  the  Ottawa,  at 
liciuhts  considerably  above  the  highest  level  it  has  ever  i)een  known  to 
attain.  One  of  these,  18  inches  in  diametei-,  near  Chenaux,  is  GO  feet 
above  the  existing  surface  of  the  water;  another,  on  the  island  at  Por- 
tage Dufort,  2e5  feet  above  the  water,  and  I'i  oi-  l,'}  feet  over  the  great 
flood  of  the  preceding  spring,  is  more  than  ;")  feet  deej),  measuring  2  by 
2|-  feet  in  diameter. 

Alexander  ^Murray  found  Tertiary  deposits  on  the  eastern  pc^ninsula 
of  the  Province,  between  the  Bay  Chaleur  and  the  (lulf  of  St.  J.aw- 
renee,  consisting  of  clay,  generally  of  a  bine  color,  with  sand  or  gravel 
over  it,  and  forming  the  banks  at  the  mouths  of  the  riv(n's.  Over  the 
■clay  in  some  cases,  as  at  the  mouth  of  the  Chat,  marine  sliells  were 
found  deposited  in   layers,   MO  feet  above  high-water   mark.     At   the 


"i"i| 


I  !^ 


ICO 


Tei'linry. 


1      ♦'■,!     i 


I'         I 


I    '1. 


month  of  tlio  Mjitan  the  clay  and   gravel  IxuikH  nro  npwnrd  of  SO  fet't 
lii<ili. 

KobiTt  W.  riil)l»('8*  (IcHcriltcd,   from  tlio   Koccno  ol'  Sdntli  ('jirolina. 
Prist  IN  (iffd.s.si::/. 

In  1848,  M.  Tnonieyt  snid  tlnil  llio  Tortiiuy  rocks  oC  South  Ciiro- 
linu  !ir(!  composed  of  l)cds  of  hiosc  sjind,  clay,  ;j,ravcl  and  sundstono, 
tog'clhcr  with  strata  ot  limestone,  of  groat  thickness,  and  beds  of  soft  or 
pulverident  marl. 

A  line  drawn  liom  the  month  of  Stevens'  creek,  on  the  Savannah, 
north  of  IIaml)nrj>',  crossing  the  Saluda  and  Broad  rivers,  near  their 
junction;  the  Wateroe,  at  the  canal;  Lynch's  creek  at  Evan's  Ferry; 
and  Thompson's  creek,  at  the  point  where  it  enters  the  State,  in  Ches- 
terlield  district,  will  approximately  maik  the  northern  l)oundary. 
Wherever  the  rivers,  in  their  downward  course,  entoi-  this  bonndary,  they 
wash  away  the  more  yielding  Tortiar\'  rocks,  au<l  expose  the  nu;ta- 
moiphic,  and  very  frequently  the  granitic  rocks;  and  hence  it  is,  that, 
at  these  points,  in  asccMiding  the  rivers,  we  meet  with  the  llrst  falls. 

The  Eocene,  in  South  ('arolina,,  has  a  thickness  of  1,000  or  1,100  leet, 
and  consists  of  three  well-delined  groups.  1.  The  Bnhr-stone  group, 
eoTn[)osed  of  thick  beds  of  sand,  gravel,  grit,  clay  and  bnhr-stone, 
amounting  to  at  least  400  feet  in  thicki,  ss,  and  underlying  the  calca- 
reous beds.  Its  upper  portions  uro  characterized  by  beds  abounding 
in  silicilied  shells,  for  the  most  part  identical  with  the  Claiborne  fos- 
sils. As  these  are  littoral  shells,  the\'  probably  occupi'MJ  the  coast. 
while  the  Santee  beds  were  forming  in  deep  water.  Tiie  materials  of 
which  this  group  is  composed  are  the  ruins  of  the  granitic  and  meta- 
morphie  rocks  of  the  upper  districts.  (Jood  exposures  occur  at  the  ferr}' 
below  Augusta,  in  the  high  red  cliffs  overlooking  the  town  of  llam- 
burg,  between  Aikin  and  Graniteville,  on  Horse  creek  and  Cedarcreek, 
and  at  the  head  of  Congaree  creek.  It  may  be  ti'accd  from  r)arnwell 
to  Sumter,  a  distance  of  100  miles,  and  it  occurs  on  lluspa  creek,  in 
Beaufort  district,  and  at  many  other  places. 

2.  The  Santee  beds,  consisting  of  thick  beds  of  white  limestone, 
marl  and  green  sand.  These  are  best  seen  on  the  Santee,  where,  in- 
terstratified  with  the  green  sand,  they  dij)  gently  towaixl  the  south. 
The  coralline  marl  of  Eutaw  is  found  near  the  upjjor  edge  of  these 
beds.  The  irregular  area  occupied  b}-  these  beds,  is  about  75  miles 
long,  and  60  miles  wide. 


*  .Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  2(1  gcr ,  vol.  i. 
t  Tuomcy  lU'ii.  (ieo.  of  South  Carolina. 


Mesoxoir  null  (hvnoxuic  Oeofnyif  and   Pith'oittoltxjii. 


1(5 


u 


'.].  Next  in  order  sibovc  tlio  Siuitcc  beds,  are  the  Aslilcy  and  Toopor 
boda,  which  are  tlic  newest  Koeene  lieds  <»t'  this  Stiite.  The  marl  of 
tlu'se  is  eliaracterized  by  its  (huk  ,iiray  eolor  and  <^riiniihu  ti  \ture, 
while  the  remains  ol'  lishe^  and  mammalia  j^ive  its  fossil  remains  u 
pccnliar  ejiaraetoi-.  These,  to,yether  with  the  Santee  beds,  have  a 
thickness  of  from  (KJO  to  700  feet. 

Artesian  boring'  has  shown  that  the  Ashley  marl  occurs  at  a  depth 
ol  about  ;U)0  feet,  at  the  City  of  Charlesfon. 

The  Koeene  is  snc*  ■  i'(h'd,  in  Sontii  (Carolina,  by  isolated  i)atclies  ol 
hi;j,hly  fossiliferons  beds  of  sand  and  nuirl,  in  which  Tuomey  eslimatcd 
the  proportion  of  livini:;  species  to  amount  to  10  per  cent,  and  for  this 
reason  referred  the  i»cds  lo  the  aue  of  the  Older  I'lioccne.  On  the 
Waccaniaw  and  I'eccU-e,  this  older  I'lioccne  is  found  super-imposed 
upon  Cretaceous  rocks,  and,  in  <;eneral,  the  Htrata  appear  to  have 
Ijcen  deposited  on  a  plane  that  rises  gently  from  the  Atlanti*-  till  it 
reaches  its  gicalest  elevation  in  Darlinsiton  ili>lrict.  The  protectcil 
patches  may  be  tr;,cc(l,  at  short  intervals,  from  Ilorry  to  I)arlin<it()u, 
and  from  thence  by  Lynch's  creek  to  Sumter.  It  occurs  on  (Joopcr 
rivci,  and  at  various  other  places. 

The  Post-pliocene,  of  South  Ciirolina,  is  confined  to  a  b'lt  alon<>'  the 
coast  of  al)out  S  or  !)  niilc.^  in  breadth.  The  fossils  are  nearly  all  re- 
ferable to  livinjf  s[)ecies  now  inhabiting  the  coast  ;  a  few,  however, 
belong  to  the  fauna  of  Florida  and  the  West  Indies.  There  appears 
to  have  been  a  sliglit  ilc\;ition  of  the  coast  during  this  jicriod. 

T.  A.  Conrad'''  separated  the  Eocene  into  tin;  Ui)per  or  Newer  Eocene, 
found  at  Vicksbnrg,  Miss.,  and  including  the  white  limestone  of  St. 
Stei)hens,  and  of  Claiborne,  Ala.,  and  i)art  of  that  in  Charleston  county, 
South  Carolina,  cliaracterizcd  l)y  Scutella  li/elli,  S.  royci'si^  Peafen 
poKhonl,  and  Ninntnnlites  maiifelli;  and  the  limestone  in  the  vicinity 
of  Tami)a  ba.\',  Florida,  charactcri;ced  i)v  NiimvKilites  Jloridnna^  Cria- 
tclJaria  rote/la,  and  Ostrea  (jcoryiana  ;  and  into  the  Lowe'  or  Older 
Eocene,  consisting  of  the  fossiliferons  sands  of  Claiborne,  and  St. 
Stephens,  Ala.,  of  the  Washita  river,  near  Monroe,  La.  ;  of  I'amunk}' 
river,  at  JMarlborne,  and  the  greensand  on  James  river,  below  Cit}' 
Point,  Va.,  and  at  Fort  Washington,  Piscataway,  anil  Uppci  Marl- 
borough, ^Laryland,  characterized  by  CarditK  phoii'costa,  C.  hlan- 
dinyi,  Cnoisotelld  ■  't<(,  Ostrea  sellivfoDuis,  and  Tarn'feJht  mor- 
loni.  He  described,*  from  the  Eocene,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Vicksbnrg',    Mississippi,    Den'  Hum  mississii^piense^    FissunMa  mis- 


'■'  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  iii 


168 


To'Uiii'ij, 


Kt'fisipji/ensis,  Soffirivin  h'iln'ahtm.  now  Arrhft.ectoin'oa  trUirnta^  linlhi 
('t'dssi/if/iut,    ('j/j)t'(i(i    sjthd  i'oith'.H,    ('.    //'tifcK,  S'tiriro    tiu'ssis.si/>/iiciisfii, 
Sif/arc/its  )tn'ssiNf<ij)pi(;ii,sis,  Nn/ica  ni.i'ssiss''i>i)l(iisln^   .V.  n'i'h\slniriiensin, 
Scjtlnrid    tihihifimo'id,    'I'uvrilvllc   nii.isis.'i//ijn'nif</s,  '/'ci'chra  (lirisiii')i, 
T.   hi  III  II  In,  I'lciD'ofohiii  jtoi'ce//(iniini,   J',  nhiniii'iiis.    /'.   coch/ciire,   /'. 
coiiffcsfinn,   I',  cn'stiititin,  P.  i/cch're,  P.  efjovuides,   /'.  w.{nsifisij)j)ie)ii>e, 
P.rnlmlcns,    I',  .scvi'iihnn,    /'.  fnntnluin,    I',  tciielhtni,  I'liorns  /iiiinilin, 
Bucciiinm  mi.ssi.sfiijipieiise,  'J'jiphls  cin'riro,s/i'iM,  Mwcx  mi.ssi.sni/)}n'ctiniH, 
Mc/oiH/OKi   i-rnssfconiiifii,   Fiisiis  viississ/p/tioisi's,  now    Ficn/isis  mis- 
ni.'<si/i/)iciisi.s,    F.  sjn'iiif/ci',  F,  vickuhiinjcnsis,    t'/ieii'ipns  Ib'itlus,   now 
Apnrrliin's    /irn/iis,    Jiiiif/irii/d     viissisnij)^/*')!^'^,     Arlaon    (ini/ernon/. 
Can  eel  hi)' I  a     fnneriifd,     (■,     uiississippicnsis,     Triton  crnssidens,     T. 
(thhrcvldhix,     T.    miKsisitippiensls,    ('dasiddria     h'nfcd,     now     Sconshi 
lintcd,    ddssis  cd'httiii'd,    (1.    nii.s.si's.sippien.si.s,    Onittrid  hiirpuhi,    Fiil 
fjol'dn'd    )nis.sistiij)j)/rnKin,    Oh'rd    vii.ini.ssfjfjiioisis,     J/i'fra     conqin'^ifd, 
ui)\\-  Fiisi)iii/fd  conqnisild,  J/.  vii,ssis.-iij)piciisi,s,  now  /''.  niissisnij)j)ien,siti, 
M.  rxlliiUJ'i'Vd,    now  F.  ce/hili/erd,   M.    shinu'/ica,    now  F.    stinnincd, 
M.    I'll  /rshiu'i/cnsi's,  (!<iricclhi  ihuninsd,  ScohitnUa  cmhifa,   Tiirbiimlld 
perexih's,    T.    jirofracta,     T.     icilsoni,    J'anopea    ohh)n(jatd,    Jldctrn 
/nuerdhi,    31.  missfusippiensis,    Aviphidcsnid  missis.si'pjiieiise,    Psani- 
mohid    h'ntcd,    now     Guri    h'nlcii,    P.     i>dpijn'.d,    now     G.    pdpijrid^ 
Crds.sdfc/hi    7)n'.siii.ssij}picnNis,    Cnrd/nm    evci'sum,    C.    dircrninn,    now 
Proli)('d}'did  dirersd,  C.  i'icA'Nhin'ifeiine,  Tellina  pectorosa^  T.  ncricd^  T. 
vickubin'ffcnNis,  Donaxfnnerahi,  Cythd'ea  d.shn'/i/on/iis,  C.  imitdbiUs 
C  missi.s.sijipicnsis,  C,  sobrina,   C.  perbrcvis,  Corbis  nhimiiicd,  Luc/iid 
miss/Ksippiensis,    L.  perlceviti,    Loripes   ebvrnca,   L.  tnrr/ida,  L'orbnld 
nlfa,  C.  ciii/iDidta,  O.  interstrinfu,  C/iatiid  misfiissipjiienb'is,  Pectuncidus 
arctdluH,    Nuevld   sericea,   iV.    ricksbiinjenfiis.  Area  mississippiensi.s^ 
III/ SSI  Id  red  h'rnd.^  JJ.  nii'ssissipp/ensis,  B.  protracta,  Avicida  arijenfed, 
Modiohi  nu'ssissi'piensis,  now  l^olsclla  mississippiensis,  Pinna  dri/enfed, 
Lima  shuninea^  Qstrea  vicksburr/ensis,  Phohis  friquetra^  Jlddrepora 
mis.sissipieiisis,  M.  vicksbiirr/ohsis,  Tnrbinolia  cdulifera^  now  Osleodes 
canh'Jeriis,  Lnnulites  vicksburijensis,  now  OUijoiresiinn  cicksburf/ense. 
From  ihe  Eocene,  at  Claiborne,  Ahibanui,  and  other  places,  AinpuUdrin 
(?)  perovdht,  Tnrbinolia  elahurahi,  now  Osteodes  ekiboratus,  Jlddre- 
pora   rennicnlosd,    now   TJcudropIii//lid    vcrmiridosa  :    and    from   St. 
Matthews  Parish,  Orang'eburg  District,  Sonth  Carolina,  NucAda  calcar- 
ensis,     JV.    carolinensis,      Cardita     bilinedhi,     C.     cdroh'nensis,     C. 
vigintindrid,   C  subqiiddraht,   G.  siibrotiinda.   Turbo  bilirdtns,  Ccri- 
t.hiuin  siliceiim,    C.  bicostellatiim,    Tnfnndibuhim  cdvindhim,    Tellina 
siiboiqiidlis,  3fadrepora  puiwtalata,  Naalilopsis  vanuxemi.     From  the 


JIcsu.~oi<:  (tad  t'<i'uo.':oi<-   Ucnbujn  (iinl   l'til(i:oiifolo()y. 


WJ 


Ali(»c('iii' of  SiifFiilk  suiil  Yoilvtowii,  Viry;ii»i!i,  ami  <ttlii'r  pliiccs.  /•Jnh'mn 
ehiivc'i,  H.  miyrdus,  Oddsfomia  liiiuihi,  (),  profcxfo,  Dnlphiimhi  iirrinisHf 
now  Aili/'H'/tf  (itU'nnsi/,  HnUn  siih.i/n'iitiS(t.  I"'i(HH  the  KorclH' ortlu'  Suiitll- 
cni  StatcM,*  h'e.llhi  ohhnnfd,  Tc/liiKi  /tcroi'iihi,  Ci/fJierctt  Ir.iiis,  XiK'utit 
i/n/irc.ssft,  now  I'ohlitt  im/ircusa,  ,V.  rhiihuniciisis,  y.  fKH'ifis,  l.ilhtnloiiiiis 
cldihornciish,  now  Liffio/t/niffti.s  r/tifhovurnfiis,  ('cn'f/iiinn  cldi/iomeiise, 
A  inphldcsiini  piU'ordhnii,  miuI  /'sdiiiiiiohin  ini.s.ii.ssi/>picii}iis,  now  (inri 
niisstssippfiiiisiK,  From  the  ( .'oluniliia  river, f  near  Astoria,  Xnriilti 
nhviiptii,  y.  ci'iicij'onin'n,  N.  (Ih'iii'lciihi,  .V.  pntlUi,  Miirtrn  ullmi'in^ 
'J'clliiin  oi'f'i/ttneiisis,  T.  abriifj',  Loripas  pnrills,  Soh'ii  ein'his,  ('i///i>re<i 
o7'<'<ioiiciists,  C,  res/)crf.iii(t,  liii/iiins  peti'osns,  now  ('iilli-hixi  /irJrosa, 
Pj/nilii  inodc.stii,  and  Fitans  orctfnucnsis. 

Dr.  .i  'si^pli  Li'i(ly|.  (U'scriltcd,  from  llic  iMioccnc  oC  X('l)r.iska  and 
i\\Ci  wvHt,  P(rJ))'()fh(U'iinii  loi/soiii.  and  .]f<'r!/ciiidodon  ciilbv.vlsimi,  now 
On'odon  ciilhcrfs(>)n.  Dr.  S.  (1.  Morion  dcsciluMl,  I'rom  tlu;  Eoi-cm!  of 
WaHJiinyton  t-onnly,  Alal)ama,  Cfdnris  nlifviniciisis,  and  d'tihri/cs 
ayastilrzi.  And  Dr.  Rohi-rt  \V.  (iil)l)os  di'S('ril)L'd,  from  the  K(»('('n(!  of 
South  Carolina,  ('iirchcrodon  morfoin,  0.  (fciifidciis,  (.'.  liiii''i/'i>i'ini.'i, 
Oxijrhiiifi  ■siUiitKUii.  Otodi's  Utvis^  and  (iliiphis  suhtddtri. 

In  181!),  T.  A.  Conrad.:<  doscriljiMl,  from  the  Up[)er  Eoeeno  of  Vicks- 
bnri>',  ^^Iissis,sii)pi,  ('lare/ld  vicksburyctisi.s.  now  Fasciolaria  vickshurii- 
cnsls,  Fidi/nr  nodiddtinn,  and  Ti'ihm  HdhuU'enfiis.  And  l{ol)ci't  W. 
Gil)l)os  described,  from  the  pjoeene  of  South  (,'aroiina,  Gcdeocerdu  con- 
torfii.s',  and  Oxf/rhina  wihonl. 

In  1H.")0,  W.  E.  Lo<;;ui|  said  that  in  tlic  valleys  of  the  Gonlfre  and 
the  Mnrray  Uay  rivers,  as  well  iis  along  the  mar<;in  of  tin?  St.  Law- 
rcnee  between  them,  tb.evc  are,  at  various  parts,  great  acenmnlationsof 
clay  and  sand,  witi;  some  gravel;  and  it  is  very  perceptible  that  while 
they  ol'ten  present  a  ccr.risi.!  aggregation  of  hnmmocksin  the  lower 
grounds,  at  liigh^r  1(  'Is.  '.in-  in  horixontal  beds,  tiiey  are  ari'anged 
into  a  succession  of  .'ijjK^siie  t .  .-.•aces  of  ecjnal  lieight  along  the  sides  of 
th(^  valleys,  and  't  !',.^!on(Ii!  erraces  at  intervals  along  tlie  St.  Law- 
rence, all  probably  \\iuvwif:f  uiicicnt  l)eaehes  or  periods  of  retrocession 
of  a  Tertiary  sea  by  the  elevation  of  tlie  land.  One  of  these  terraces, 
in  the  valley  of  tlie  Gouffi'e,  has  a  heiglit,  as  indieated  by  a  s[)irit  level, 
of  DiO  ftv.t  above  the  Bay  St.  Paul,  and  another  lias  a  height  of  oGO  feet. 


*  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  2(1  ser.,  vol.  i. 

i  Am.  Jour.  Sei.  and  Arts,  2d  ser.,  vol.  v. 

I  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vols.  iii.  and  iv. 
§  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  2d  ser.,  vol.  1. 

II  Guo.  Bur.  of  Canada. 


.,,,,jf 


^^PPM 


no 


Tertiary. 


■  ( 


Tlie  deposits  in  which  these  terraces  have  I^een  worn  consist  of  clay, 
containing-  marine  sliells,  among  which  are  Telllan  groenlandicM,  T. 
calcared,  Snxicavd  riujuso,  NnGiihi,  Venus,  31  ij  til  us,  and  Ba  Janus. 
These  shells  were  I'onnd  as  high  as  lUJO  feet  jibove  the  b-iy.  At  Little 
Malbide  there  are  six  terraces,  plainly-  distinguishable,  one  above 
another. 

T.  A.  Convad*  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  Geoi'gia,  Mifra 
geor(iiana,  Catopygus  conradi,  now  Cassuhihis  conradi,  Ilolnster 
mortom\  NucAeolites  hjelli.^  Discoidea  haJdeuKiiii,  and  Cidaritcs 
wortonl.  Robert  W.  Gibbes  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  Asjiluy 
river,  Mulichates  holmesi.  And  Zadock  Tiionipsonf  described,  fron) 
the  drift  in  Vermont,  exposed  in  excavating  for  the  IJutinru  and 
Burlington  railroad,  Delphinvs  vermoutavns,  now  JJchir/a  vt:r7ncn- 
tona. 

In  18")],  Philip  T.  T^'son;};  described  the  Sacramento  Valley  as 
along  prairie,  occupying  the  space  between  the  flanks  of  the  Sierrt. 
Nevada  and  those  of  the  Coast  Range,  closed  in  on  the  nortl;  by  the 
terminal  spurs  of  tiie  Cascade  mountains,  iuid  on  the  south  by  th'; 
junction  of  the  Coast  Range  with  the  Sierra  Nevada.  Its  gieatei^. , 
width  is  less  than  60  miles,  but  it  maintains  a  mean  width  of  nearly 
50  miles  throughout  almost  its  entire  length.  The  surface  strata  ar^ 
not  older  than  the  Eocene  or  Miocene,  and  rest  immediately  ui)on  the 
metamorphic  and  hypogene  rocks. 

Trof.  James  Robb^  showed  tlie  direction  of  the  Dril't  striip  in  New 
Brunswick  to  be,  generally,  about  10  deg.  W.  of  true  north  to  10  deg 
Fi.  ot  so\ith,  but  that  some  stria'  have  a  direction  N.  ;!0deg.  E.  Others 
N.  45  deg.  W.,  and  still  others  east  and  west. 

T.  T.  Bouve||  described,  from  tlie  Eocene  of  Georgia,  CatopijfiKs  pa- 
telliformis,  now  Cdssulidii.s  pafellifornu's,  and  Ilemiasier  conradi. 

In  185'2,  Mr.  J.  E  ,'ans^|  exploi-ed  that  region  of  the  I'pper  ^Missouri 
country,  lyiug  high  upon  White  river,  called  the  '^  Maura isvs  Torres''' 
or  "Bad  Lands."  He  said  that  from  the  high  prairies,  which  rise  in  the 
back,  by  a  series  of  terraces  or  benches  toward  the  spurs  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  the  traveler  looks  down  into  an  extensive  valley,  that  may 
be  said  to  constitute  a  world  of  its  own,  and  which  appears  to  have 
been  formed  partly  by  an  extensive  vertical  fault,  and  partly  by  the 
long  continued  influence  of  the  scooping  action  of  denudation. 

*  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  ScL,  2(1  ser.,  vol.  ii. 
T  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  id  ser.,  vol.  ix. 
t  (iL'o.  and  Ind.  Kesoiirci's  oi'Cal. 
ij  Proe.  Am.  Ai^s.  Ad.  8oi.,  4tli  Mooting. 
i  Proe.  IJost.  Soe.  Nat.   Hist.,  vol.  iv. 
ir  'ieo.  iSur.,  Wis.,  Iowa  and  Minn. 


Mesozoic  atid  Cnnozoic  Geolo(]ij  (did  P(thvont(ilo;iy,         171 


o\v 


The  widtli  of  this  vnlley  may  be  about  30  miles,  ami  its  whole  ]i'ii<>tli 
about  90.  as  it  stretches  away  westwardiy  toward  tlu;  l)aso  of  the 
gloomy  and  dark  range  of  mountains  known  as  the  lilaek  Ilili-^.  Its 
most  depressed  portion,  300  feet  below  the  general  level  oftlm  surround- 
ing country,  is  clothed  with  scanty  grassc-'.  and  covered  by  a  soil 
similai"  to  that  of  the  higher  ground. 

To  the  surrounding  country,  hnwevei",  the  IMauvaiscs  Terix's  present 
the  most  striking  contrast.  From  the  uniform,  monotonous,  open 
pi'airie,  the  ti'uveler  suddeuly  descends,  one  or  two  hundrcul  feet,  into  a 
valley  that  looks  as  if  it  had  suidc  away  from  the  surrounding  world, 
leaving,  standing  all  over  it,  thousands  of  abrupt,  irregular,  i>i'ismatic, 
juid  columnar  masses,  frequently  capj:ed  with  irregidar  pyramids,  and 
stretching  up  to  a  height  of  from  one  to  two  hundi'e(l  feet  oi'  nu)re. 

So  thickly  are  these  natural  towers  studded  over  the  surface  of  this 
extraordinary  region,  that  the  traveler  threads  his  way  through  deep, 
confiried,  labyrinthine  passages,  nut  unlike  the  nai'row,  irregular  streets 
and  lanes  of  some  quaint,  old  town  of  the  Euro[)ean  continent.  Viewed 
in  the  distance,  indeed,  these  rocky  piles,  in  their  endless  succession, 
assume  the  appearance  of  massive,  artificial  structures,  decked  out  with 
all  the  accessories  of  buttress  and  turret,  arched  doorway  and  clustered 
shaft,  pinnacle,  and  lluial  and  tai)ering  spire. 

One  might  almost  imagine  oneself  approaching  some  magnificent 
city  of  the  dead,  where  the  labor  and  the  genius  of  forgotten  nations 
had  left  behind  them  a  multitude  of  monuments  of  art  and  skill. 

On  descending  from  the  iieights,  however,  and  proceetling  to  thread 
this  vast  labyrinth,  and  inspect,  in  detail,  its  deep,  intricate  recesses, 
the  realities  of  ti:e  scene  soon  dissipate  the  delusions  of  the  distance. 
The  Ccistellated  forms,  which  fancy  had  conjured  up  have  vanished; 
and  around  one,  on  ever^'  side,  is  bleak  and  barren  desolation. 

Then,  too,  if  the  exploration  be  made  in  midsummer,  the  scorching 
rays  of  the  sun,  pouring  down  in  the  hundi'cd  defiles  that  conduct  the 
wa}' fa rcr  through  this  pathless  waste,  are  refiected  back  from  the  white 
or  ash  colored  walls  that  rise  around,  unurtigated  by  a  l.u'eath  of  air, 
or  the  shelter  of  a  solitary  shrub. 

The  drooping  spirits  of  the  scorcl'cd  geologist  ar»'  n<'t  permittetl, 
however,  to  flag.  The  fossil  treasures  of  the  way,  we!,  repay  its  sul- 
triness and  fatigue.  At  every  step,  objects  of  tlie  highest  interest 
present  themselves.  Embedded  in  the  debi'is,  lie  strewn,  in  the 
greatest  profusion,  organic  relics  of  extinct  animals.  All  speak  of  a 
vast  fresh  water  deposit  of  the  early  Tertiary  period,  and  disclose  the 
former  existence  of  ujost  remarka])le  races  that  ro.-imed  ;dn)ut  in  by- 


172 


Tertiary. 


gone  ngos  high  up  in  the  vallov'  of  the  Missouri,  toward  the  source  of 
its  western  tributaries,  where  now  pasture  the  big  -  horned  Oois 
montana,  the  shaggy  buffalo,  or  American  bison,  and  the  elegant  and 
slenderly  constructed  antelope. 

A  section  oi'  the  Tei'tiary  of  the  "Bad  lands,"  or,  "  Mauvaises 
Terres,"  in  <h;scending  order,  is  as  follows  :  I.  Ash  colored  ehiy, 
cracking  in  the  sun,  containing  siliceous  concretions,  30  feet.  2.  Com- 
pact, white  limestone,  3  feet.  3.  Light  gray,  marly  limestone,  8  feet.  4. 
Light  gray,  indurated,  siliceous  clay  (not  eti'ervescont),  30  feet.  5. 
Aggregate  of  small  angular  grains  of  quartz,  or  conglomerate,  cement- 
ed by  calcareous  earth,  slightly  etT'ervescent,  8  feet.  ('►.  Layer  of 
quartz  and  chalcedony  (prol)ably  only  partial),  1  inch.  7.  Light  gray, 
indur.-itcd,  siliceous  clay,  similar  to  No.  4,  but  mo-e  calcareous,  passing 
downward  into  pale  flesh  colored,  indurated,  siliceous,  marly  limestone, 
turtle  and  bone  lied,  25  feet.  8.  White  and  light  gray,  calcareous 
grit,  slightly  elTei  vcscent,  L5  feet.  !).  Similar  aggregate  to  No.  5,  but 
coarser,  8  feet.  10.  Light  green,  indurated,  argillaceous  stratum 
(slightly  effervescent);  Pala.'otlierium  bed,  20  feet. 

Dr.  Joseph  Leid}'  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  Nebraska. 
JEt(crof(iphKs  auritus^  and  from  the  Pliocene  of  Virginia,*  CrocodiUis 
antiqniit;.  now  Thecachainpsa  antiqans.  Prof.  F.  Cngerf  described, 
from  the  Tertiary  of  Texas,  Sillhnania  texcuia,  Roimeria  americcna, 
and  Thu.inxylon  americMnum. 

In  1853,  Alexander  Miirrav,^  informed  us  that  the  clays  on  the  Ot- 
tawa, in  the  vicinit}"  of  liytown,  at  the  month  of  the  Gatineau  on  the 
north,  and  of  Gieen's  creek  on  the  south  side,  in  addition  to  marine 
shells,  yield,  in  the  latter  locality,  two  species  offish,  the  Mallotus  vil- 
losus,  and  CUjcloplerxs  Iinnpus,  or  lump-sucker,  the  former  now  living 
and  frequenting  the  Gulf  of  St,  Lawrence  in  great  numbers,  and  the 
latter  abounding  on  the  northern  shores  of  Scotland  and  America. 
The  fossils  are  enclosed  in  nodules  of  indurated  clay  of  reniform 
shapes,  and  occupy  a  bed  neaidy  on  a  level  with  the  water  of  the  Otta- 
wa, and  about  118  feet  above  the  tide  level  of  Lake  St.  Peter,  T 
same  sort  of  nodules  frequently  enclose  tVagments  of  wood,  leaves  of 
trees,  and  portions  of  mai'ine  plants  ;  among  the  last  is  one  of  the 
species  of  littoral  algje  still  found  near  the  coas'-.s  of  Arctic  seas.  Be- 
side the  stratified  deposits  of  clay  and  sand,  there  is  a  deposit  of  clay 
drift,  holding  pebbles  and  bowlders,  sometimes  angular,  but  generall3' 


*  Jour.  Acad.  Xnt,  Sei.,  2d  ser.,  vol.  ii, 
t  Kreid.  von  Texiisj. 
1  Geo.  Sur.  of  Canada, 


Mesozoic  rnul  fanioxoic   Genfoffy  and  Pidivontolofjy.         1  73 

rounded,  showing  no  decided  lin<'s  of  stratifu'.'ition,  but  irre<>ulMilv  ns- 
soeiated  with  isolated  Ueds  of  gravel  ;jiid  sand,  among  which  great 
quantities  of  marine  siiells  of  comparatively  recent  origin  occui'.  One 
of  these  localities  is  ou  the  Prescott  Ixoad,  aooiit  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  K('m])tville,  wiiei'e  a  va-^l  accnmnlat ion  of  TcJlliui 
(fixenhoidica  oM'iiays  a  two  feet  l»ed  of  limestone  gravel,  the  latter 
I'csting  on  gravc^l  of  a  still  coarser  quality,  and  of  more  angular 
fragments,  and  irregularly  mixed  up  with  sand  ami  clay,  some 
of  the  boivlders  being  from  6  to  10  inches  in  diameter.  The  height  of 
this  locality  is  about  '550  feet  over  Lake  St.  Pester.  Atanotlicr  hjcidity, 
near  Armstrong's  Mills,  the  shells  consist  chiclly  of  xS'(/.t;<'c'(/(,"«  n((/osa, 
mixed  with  sand  and  loam,  at  a  height  of  about  IIOO  feet  al)ove  Lake 
St.  T*eter.  In  Kenyon,  on  the  Garry  river,  these  shells  occur  at  the 
height  of  270  feet  aViove  Lake  St.  Peter.  On  the  road  between  tin;  r)th 
and  0th  concessions  of  I'.ie  towushi[).  on  tiie  IDtli  and  tin;  21st  lots, 
these  shells  occur  at  the  height  of  'MV)  or  •!  10  f(!et  above  Lake  8t. 
Petei'.  Two  localities  occur  in  Locliiel.  one;  of  them  on  the  loth  lot  of 
the  1st  concession,  at  the  height  of  201  feiit,  and  the  other  on  the  ->th 
lot  of  the  same  concession,  2S0  or  290  feet  above  Lake  St.  Pelei-,  where 
the  marine  shells  are  mixed  with  the  sand,  and  where  Ijowlders  and 
fragments  of  limestone  and  sandstone  abound. 

Prof.  Edward  Hitchcock*  described  th(-  brown  coal  deposit  in  Bran- 
<lon,  Vermont,  and  referred  it  to  the  Pliocene  or  Newer  Tertiary.  Ho 
found  it  abounding  in  fruits  and  lignites,  which  ai)|iear  to  have  been 
transported  by  water,  and  proba])ly  accumulated  in  an  ancient  estuary. 
It  abounds  in  white  and  variegated  clays,  water- \v(U'n  beds  of  sand  and 
gravel,  beds  of  carbonaceous  matter  not  l)ituminous,  and  deposits  of 
iro)-  and  manganese. 

T.  A,  Conradf  described,  IVom  the  IMiocene  of  Ui)per  California, 
Gnathodon  lerontci,  now  IldiKjni  /eaon/ci,  and  Os/rea  cexperthid, 

\\i  1854,  Dr.  Leidylj;  described,  from  the  Post-pliocene,  of  Ashley 
river,  South  Carolina,  Arcfodas'  prist/inis,  from  Kansas,  Camciops 
kdnsaniis  ;  and  from  the  mouth  of  Pigeon  creek,  below  Lvansville,  Ind., 
fjanis  pn'moivus,  now  C.  indidiien.s/s.  From  the  Pliocene,  on  I5ijou 
Hill,  east  of  the  Missouri  river,  llippodon  speciosus,  now  Illppofhc- 
riavi,  speciosum,  and  Merycodus  necdtiis,  now  (Josoryx  necdtm;  from 
the  JNIioceno  of  Nebraska,  Deinlctisfelina. 

Evans  and  Shumard  described,  from  the  Tertiary  (White  Riv.  Gr.), 


*  Am.  Jour.  .Sci.  it  Arts,  2(l,«oi'.,  vol.  xv. 
t  Jour  Acad.  Nsit.  [^ci.,  '1<\  .«or.,  vol.  ii. 
I  Troc.  Acad.  Nat.  .Sci.,  \ul.  vii. 


mi 

I 
ill 


174 


Tertiary. 


in  Nebraska,  In  the  AMcinity  of  Pcno  creek,  a,  small  tributary  of  Teton, 
or  Little  Missouri  river,  in  a,  thin  bedded,  light  gray,  silieeousi  lime- 
stone, near  the  siunmit  of  the  elevated  i)lateaux  which  border  the 
Manvaises  Terres,  Planorhia  nebraficensis,  Limncei'  (linph<ui(i,  L.  ne- 
brcifice/isis,  Physa  secdiiiia,  and  Cijpris  leidyi. 

T.  A.  Conrad*  described,  from  the  (Jackson  Group)  Greensand 
Marl-bed  of  Jackson,  Mississippi,  Asfarte  purif/'s.  UinbrcUa  p/aniddta, 
CorbiiJa  h/cdrinata,  0.  densafc/,  Leda  midlllinerifd,  now  jyuaulaixi 
multdli.neata,  UTavicHln  asperd,  CrasHdlelld  flej'iird,  GIossus  fllosus^ 
now  Axlnoea  flloaa^  Osfrea.  trif/otidUs,  Pecfeii  nupems,  (JapidNs  umeri- 
canus,  CfdvcUfheti  htDtierosKs.  (!.  vdricosiis,  C.  missfs,si'p2}fe/}sis,  now 
PapiJlina  mifislssippioiais,  TrochWi  ctUd,  llifra  dumosa,  now  Lopparid 
dumoaa.  Conns  torfih's,Volntilifhes  symmetr/'cxs,  V.  dinnosus/Jioate/la- 
rin  reldtd,  now  C<ihipt/rophorii.s  vcl((fiis^  It.  Sfdininea,  now  C  ufain/a- 
eits,  Cdricella  subanrjnlafd,  (J.  polifd,  Naficu  pennanda,  Bostellaria 
extenfa,  now  Platyopiera  e.ctenia,  Jfifn'.  miUln<if.oni\  now  Fi/simifrc 
mfllinyfoni,  Teredo  miss/ssippfennis,  Arehitecfonicd  dciifa,  A.belllstri- 
dfa.,  Cypro'd  pingids,  C.  fe)iesfrdJis,  Gastridinm  vefiisfjim,  Phornti 
recIiisHs,  Txrritella  alvedtd.^  Gdleodia  petersoni,  and  Srrepnidurd  du- 
mosd. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Dawson, f  describing  the  drift  of  Nova  Scotia,  in  ISo.j, 
said,  that  in  the  low  country  of  Cumberland  there  are  few  bowlders,  but 
of  tlK  Tew  that  appear,  some  belong  to  the  hard  rocks  of  the  Cobequid 
hills  to  the  southward;  others  may  liavc  lieen  derived  from  tlie  some- 
what similar  hills  of  New  Brunswick.  On  the  summits  of  the  Cobe- 
quid hills,  and  theii'  northern  slo[)es,  we  find  angular  fragments 
of  the  sandstones  of  the  plain  below,  not  only  drifted  from  their  orig- 
inal sites,  i)ut  elevated  several  hundreds  of  feet  above  them.  To  the 
southward  and  eastward  of  the  Cobe(iuids,  throughout  Colchester, 
Northern  Hants,  and  Pictou,  fragments  from  these  hills,  usually  much 
rounded,  are  the  most  abundant  traveled  bowlders,  showing  that  there 
has  been  great  driftage  from  this  elevated  tract.  In  like  manner,  the 
long  ridge  of  trap  roclvs,  extending  from  Cape  lilomidon  to  Uriar  Island? 
has  sent  oft'  great  quantities  of  bowlders  across  the  sandstone  valley 
which  bounds  it  on  tlie  soutli,  and  up  the  slopes  of  the  slate  and  gi'anite 
hills  to  the  southward  of  this  valley.  Well  characterized  fragments  of 
trap  from  Blomidon  may  be  seen  near  the  town  cl"  Windsor,  and  un- 
mistakable fragments  of  similar  rock  fi'om  Digl)y  neck,  on  tlie  Tusket 
river,  may  be  seen,  thirt}^  miles  from  tlieir  original    position.     On    the 


'■■•  Wnilc's'  (ico.  of  Miss, 
t  Afiidiaii  (I'olosy. 


Mesozoic  and  Caniozoic  Geology  and  Palwonfolof/i/. 


175 


other  hfitul,  iinnuM-ous  bowlders  of  granite  have  been  carried  to  the 
iiortlnvard  from  the  hills  of  Annapolis,  and  deposited  on  th^  slopes  of 
the  opposite  trappean  rid,i>e;  and  some  of  them  liave  been  carried  round 
its  eastern  eml,  and  now  lie  on  the  shores  of  Londonderry  and  Onslow. 
So,  also,  while  immense  numbers  of  bowlders  h.'sve  l)een  scattered  over 
the  south  coast  from  the  uranite  and  quartz  rock  ridges,  immediately 
inland,  many  have  (b'ifted  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  may  be  found 
scattered  over  the  counties  of  Sydney,  Pictou  and  Colchester.  The&e 
fact?  show  that  the  transport  of  traveled  blocks,  though  it  may  have 
been  |)rincii)ally  from  the  northward,  has,  by  no  means  been  exclusively 
so;  bowlders  having  lieen  cai'ried  in  various  directions,  and  more 
especially  from  the  more  elevated  and  rocky  districts  to  the  lower 
grounds  in  their  vicinity. 

The  surface  of  the  coun.try  was  greatly  modified  by  the  drift;  the 
ridges  of  Cumberland,  the  deep  valleys  of  Cornwallis  nnd  Annapolis, 
the  great  gorges  crossing  ^he  Cobequid  mountains,  and  the  western 
end  of  the  North  mountains  in  Annapolis  and  Digby  counties,  such 
eminences  a?^  the  Greenhill  in  Pictou  county,  and  Onslow  mountain 
in  Colchester,  are  due  in  great  part  to  the  removal  of  soft  rocks  by  d<;- 
nuding  agencies  of  this  jx'riod,  while  the  harder  rocks  remained  in  pro- 
jecting ridges.  The  surface  of  the  rocks  are  frecpiently  found  polished, 
scratched  or  striated.  The  striie  at  different  jjlaees  have  different 
courses,  and  sometimes  they  are  found  to  cross  each  other  as  at  Gore 
mountain,  where  one  set  is  S.  (5.5  deg.  E.,  and  the  other  S.  20  deg.  E. 
At  Gay's  river,  Musciuodoboit  Harboi-,  and  near  Guyslioro  the  direction 
is  from  S.  to  X.  At  Poison's  L:ike,  from  N.  to  S.,  and  near  Pictou,  E. 
ct  W.  Bo.viders  or  traveled  stones  are  off^n  found  in  i)laces  where  there 
is  no  other  drift.  For  example,  on  bare  granite  hills,  about  500  feet  in 
height,  near  the  St.  Mary's  i-iver.  there  are  large,  angular  blocks  of 
quartzite,  derived  from  tiie  ridges  of  that  inatei-ial  which  abound  in 
the  district,  but  are  separated  from  the  hills  on  whicii  the  fragments  lie 
liv  deep  valleys. 

The  only  evidence  of  organic  life  during  the  ])owlder  period,  or  im- 
mediately before  it,  noticed  V)v  Dr.  Dawson,  consists  of  a  hardened, 
peaty  bed,  which  appears  under  the  bowlder  cia\  on  the  northwest  aim 
of  the  River  of  Inhabitants.  It  rests  upon  gray  clay,  similar  to  that 
which  underlies  peat  bogs,  and  is  oveilaid  by  nearly  twenty  feet  of 
bowlder  clay.  Pressure  has  rendered  it  nearly  as  hard  as?  coal,  thouah 
it  is  somewhai  tougher  and  more  earthy  than  good  coal.  It  has  a 
glossy  appearance  when  rubbed  or  scratched  with  a  knife,  burns  with 
considerable  flame,    and  api)roaches   in   its   chaiacters  to  the  brown 


176 


Tertiary. 


coals,  or  more  iinperfoci  varieties  of  bitimiinons  coal.  It  contains  many 
small  roots  and  branclios,  apparently  of  on iferrius  irces  Hied  to  the 
spruces.  The  vegetable  mutter  composiiii-"  this  bed,  iiust  have 
flourished  before  the  drift  was  spread  over  the  province,  so  that  it  be- 
longs to  some  i)art  of  the  great  Tertiary  group  of  rocks,  of  which  the 
drilt  is  the  latest  member. 

Dr.  Dawson  accounted  for  the  drift  phenomena  of  Nova  Sc-otia,  in 
this  manner.  Let  us  suppose  the  surfiice  of  the  province,  while  its 
projecting  I'ooks.  were  uncovered  by  surface  deposits,  exposed  for  many 
successive  centuries  to  the  action  of  alternate  frosts  and  thaws — the 
whole  of  the  untraveled  drift  migiit  have  been  accumulated  on  its 
surface.  Let  it  then  be  slowly  submerged,  until  its  iiill-tops  should 
become  ishmds  or  reefs  of  rocks  in  a  sea  loaded  in  winter  and  spring 
with  drift  ice,  floated  along  by  currents,  which,  like  the  present  Arctic 
current,  woidd  set  from  N.  E.  to  S.  W.,  with  various  modifications 
produced  b}'^  local  causes.  We  have,  in  these  causes,  ample  means  for 
accounting  for  the  whole  of  the  appearances,  including  the  traveled 
blocks  and  the  scratched  and  polished  rock  surfaces. 

'V\\e sfratifled  sand  and  (jravel  rests  upon  and  is  newer  than  the  un- 
stratilied  drift.  This  may  often  be  seen  in  coast  sections  or  river 
banks,  and  occasionally  in  road-cuttings.  In  I'ictou  county  there  oc- 
curs a  very  thick  bed  of  conglomerate,  of  the  age  of  the  Coal 
Measures,  the  outcrop  of  which,  owing  to  its  comparative  hardness 
and  great  mass,  forms  a  high  ridge  extending  from  the  hill  behind  New 
Glasgow,  across  the  East  and  Middle  rivers,  and  along  the  south  side 
of  the  West  river,  ;.nd  then  crossing  the  West  river  reappears  in  Rogers 
Hill.  The  valleys  of  these  three  rivers  have  been  cut  through  this  bed, 
and  the  material  thus  removed  has  been  heaped  up  in  hillocks  and  beds 
of  gravel,  along  the  sides  of  the  streams,  on  the  side  toward  which  the 
vyater  now  flows,  which  happens  to  be  the  north  and  northeast.  Accord- 
ingly, along  the  course  of  the  Albion  Mines  railway,  and  tiie  lower  parts 
of  the  INIiddle  and  West  rivers,  these  gravel  beds  are  everywhere  »;xposed 
in  the  road-cuttings,  and  may  in  some  plai-es  be  seen  to  rest  on  the 
bowlder-clay,  showing  that  the  cutting  of  these  valleys  was  completed 
after  the  drift  was  produced.  The  stratilied  gravels  do  not,  like  the 
older  drift,  form  a  continuous  sheet  spreading  over  the  surface.  They 
occur  in  mounds,  and  long  ridges,  sometimes  extjcnding  for  miles  over 
the  country.  They  are  supposed  to  have  been  distributed  when  the 
country  was  being  elevated,  while  the  bowlder  drift  was  deposited 
when  the  land  was  subsiding  beneath  the  sea. 

T..  A.  Conrad  separated  the  Eocene  of  Mississippi  and  Alabama,  in 


Mesozoic  and  Cwnozoic  Qeology  and  Paloiotitologi/.         177 

ascending  onlor,  into  :  1.  (Maiborno  group,  (•hiiracterizcd  by  Cnrdifn 
denKOfa,  Ostrea  selliformis,  Ci'dssdtelhi  (ilia,  PerfAincHhis  sfam/'iiens, 
Merelrix  auptiu'ea,  Gro/elupfri  hi/di,  Leda  C(i'/((f(t,  und  Crcpididft  /irnfa. 
2.  Jac'ksdU  group,  eharactciizcd  by  Umbrella  pldinilatd,  Cardium 
nicollefUi\  Conns  tortillfs,  Ci/pratn  fencsh'ah'.s,  Gideodia  pe/ersoni,  and 
Rout  ell  aria  exfenta.  \\.  St.  StcpluMi's  group,  characterized  by  Pecten 
poulsoiii,  and  Orhitnliles  indntelli.  4.  Vicksburg  group,  cliaracterizcd 
by  Corbnla  (dfa,  Crassafella  m/ssissi'ppicnsis,  Ai'c((  ^iiinsissippt'erisis, 
Merefri.r  sobrina,  M.  fmilabilis,tin(\  Tin-blnella  wihouL  Tie  di'scribed,* 
from  Jackson.  Miss.,  find  Claiborne,  Ala.,  Undopuc/ii/s  expansam^  Ji\ 
triatujalare^  E.  alt.icoHtatum^  Fhibdlnm  wallesi^  Osfeodes  irroratiis, 
Tiirbinolin  luiudififormis,  Chiloti  <infiquus,  ('.  corenensis ;  and  from 
White  rivei',  Arkansas,  Pef.rophi/llia  arkmisasensis;  from  the  INIiocene, 
of  Colorado'  and  the  West,  Anomui  nubcosfafji,  Jfercenaria  perlami- 
nosa,  PerJeti  heermruii,  Pandora  bilirafa,  Astarfe  thomasi,  Turritella 
serfa,  Osfrea  confracfa,  and  fdnionea  callfornlca. 

Pi'of.  \\\n.  V.  Hlake  noticed  Miocene  strat:>,  containing  tlie  remains 
of  Infusoria  and  I'olythalamia,  near  ^Monterey,  Caliibrnia.  The  strata 
are  white,  porous,  light,  resemble  chalk,  and  are  situated  about  two 
miles  southeast  from  the  center  of  Monterey,  and  form  part  of  a  hill 
which  fronts  the  bay,  and  rises  on  the  east  side  of  the  stage-road  to  San 
Francisco  to  the  height  of  500  or  000  feet. 

Tuoniey  and  Holmesf  described,  fiom  the  Pliocene  of  South  Carolina, 
Celleporrt  formosa,  C.  deprcssct,  C.  radio  la,  C.  fessellala,  3Iembrani- 
pora  lacinia,  Plaeunanomia  ph'cafa,  Osfrea  rarenelana,  Janira 
cffint's,  Pecten  compari'h's,  P.  peedeensfs,  Mi/f.ili(s  injlatas.  Area  hlans, 
A.  rustica,  PecttDtcuUts  lavis.  Lniu'no  cosf.ata^  Cra.ssafella  g/bbesi, 
Psanimocola  pliocenu,  Dentalinm  pliocenum.  Ilipponix  bidli,  3fono- 
donta  kiaivahensis,  Trochus  armillatus^  T.  f/enima,  Terebellinn  sfria- 
f,um,  T.  bnrdeni,  T.  eh'iranensi's,  Volnfa  frenholnn',  Porcellana  olioi- 
formis.  Purpura  tridentata,  Cancellarift  dcpressa,  (J.  f;enusta^  linsycon 
conradi,  Cassidulus  carolinensis,  and  Fasciotaria  tuomeyi. 

J.  McCrady  described,  from  the  same  strata,  Psavxniechinus  exoletxs, 
Ayassizia  porifera,  Amphidetus  amplijiorus,  A.  gntkicus,  Jirissus 
spatiosKs,  Playionottfs  holniesi,  and  P.  ravenelanus. 

Dr.  Trask;|;  described,  from  the  Pliocene  of  Santa  Barbara,  California, 
Chenuiftzia  papi'llosa^  Tornatella  etlipfica^  Mvrex  frayilis,  Fusus  bar- 
barensis,  F.  robustns,  and  F.  ruyosus. 

*  Proe.  Aciul.  Nat.  Soi.,  vol.  vii. 

t  Tuoincy  and  Holmes'  Fossils  of  South  Carolina. 

1  Proc.  Cal.  Acad.  Sci.,  vol.  i. 


w 


178 


Tertiary. 


'\ 


In  1856,  W.  P.  Blak'i'"  described  the  Tertiary  rocks  of  the  vicinity  of 
San  Francisco,  California.  They  consist  of  fine-grained,  compact  sand- 
stone, associatcil  witli  shales,  and  underlie  tlie  city  of  San  Francisco, 
and  are  exposed  along  the  sliores  of  the  bay,  both  noith  and  south  of 
the  city,  forming  the  i)rinci[)Jil  promontories  and  points,  and  several 
islands.  On  entering  the  bay  fi'om  the  I'acifu',  tiiey  are  iirst  seen  at 
Point  Lobos,  the  cuter  point,  and  again  at  North  and  Tonquin  points. 
They  border  part  of  the  Golden  Gate  on  the  north,  and  form  the  shores 
of  Hichardson  and  Sancelito  ba^ys.  Angel,  Yerba  Buena  and  Alcatrazes 
Islands,  ur(M)f  the  same  age.  In  some  places,  hills  and  ridges  of  200 
or  :K)0  feet  in  elevation  are  foiined  entirely  of  this  sandstone.  Rocks 
of  the  sauK!  age  are  found  at  Benicia,  New  Almaden,  and  between  San 
Juan  and  Monterey. 

On  the  south  end  of  the  Island  of  Yerba  Buena,  a  section,  200  feet 
thick,  shows  the  sandstone  layers,  varying  from  a  few  inches  to  six 
and  eight  feet,  ancl  alternating  with  beds  of  argillaceous  slates  and 
shales.  All  the  weathered  surfaces  ot  this  series  of  beds  are  of  a  rusty- 
brown  or  drab  color,  which  extends  throughout  the  rock  to  a  depth  of 
from  ten  to  twenty  feet,  down  to  the  limit  of  atmospheric  influences. 
There  are  parts,  however,  of  the  u|)per  beds  that  have  not  been  reached 
and  changed  by  decomi)osition ;  these  parts  are  found  in  the  condition  of 
spherical  or  ellipsoidal  masses,  from  which  the  weathered  parts  scale  off 
in  successive  crusts.  These  nuclei  have  the  appearance  of  great,  rounded 
bowlders,  and  have  accumulated,  in  great  numbers,  at  the  base  of  the 
cliff.  They  are  of  various  sizes,  but  are  smallest  in  the  upper  parts  of 
the  strata,  near  to  the  surface. 

This  spherical  or  globular  condition  does  not  appear  to  be  the  result 
of  any  peculiar  arrangement  of  the  material  of  the  strata,  a  concretion- 
ar}'  action,  such  as  takes  place  in  the  igneous  rocks,  but  is  probably 
due  to  decomposition,  the  result  of  the  absorption  of  infiltrating  waters 
charged  with  imi)urities.  A  solid  and  homogeneous  cube  of  sandstone 
thus  exposed,  under  conditions  favorable  for  al)sorption  of  the  water  on 
all  its  sides,  would  decompose  most  rai)idly  on  the  angles,  producing  a 
succession  of  curved  surfaces  gradually  approaching  a  sphere. 

The  color  of  the  sandstone  is  dark,  bluish  green,  inclining  to  gray. 
It  is  exceedingly  compact  and  tough,  and  does  not  break  so  readily  as 
the  fine-grained,  red  sandstone  of  the  Connecticut  river  and  New  Jersey 
quarries. 


*  Explorations  and  Surveys  for  a  railroad  from  the  Mississippi  river  to  the  Pacific  ocean, 
vol.  V. 


Jfesozoic  (Did  Camozoic  Gcolofji/  and  Pdhtonfohxjij. 


179 


A  scn'tioii  at   Navy  l'i)iiit,  H.'iuciji,  ox|)osoa  a  thicknoss  of  eoiiforin- 
ablt!  beds  of  sainlstoiic  coniiloincratc  ami  shales  alittU;  moro  than  1,000 
foot  ill  thickiu'ss.     Tlic  strata  aio  ii[)lil't('(l,  hoiiii;-  incliiu'd  at  an  aiij^lo 
of  tVdiii  20  to  (50  (leu".,  and  dii)i)Uiy:  toward  tlu;   soiitliwost.     Tlif  lii'iid 
of  tlu'  outcrops  is  75  di';'.   west  of  iioi'tli,  and  tiie  strata  iiiidcrlic,  of 
rather  form  tlie  liill  iipo',  which   tlie  governineiit  huihliiigs  are  erei-tcd. 
The  rid,L;e  of  coiig'lomerate  is  tii{>  iiardest   and  most  unyiehlin^' of  all 
the  strata,  and  its  resistance  to  abrasion   and   atinosi»heric   inlliicnces 
has  determined   tlie   form   of  the   hill   and   the  sha|»e  of  Navy  I'oint. 
It  is  prominent  at  several  points,  aloni^'  the  surface    of  tlie  <j;ronnd, 
and    is    almost   the    only    rock    that  ap[)ears   aliove  the    soil   in   that 
vicinity.     The  bed  is  about  twenty-five  feet  thick,  and  is  comi)osed  of 
peb!)l('s  and  gravel,  very  round,  much   water-worn,  and  chielly  derived 
from  the  wear  of  volcanic  or  eruptive  rocks.     Their  colors  are  generally 
dark;  and   iJor[)hyries,   agates  and  carnelitins    are   abundant.      Their 
average!  diameter  does  not  exceed  an  inch,  and  many  are  about   llio 
si/e  of  beaiis  and  peas.     They  are  closely  united  by  a  small  portion  of 
liner  materials.     The  strata  on  both  sides  of  the  conglomerate  consist 
of  alternate  beds  of  soft  and  friable  argillaceous  shales,  with  an  occa- 
sional layer  of  gravel  and  pebbles. 

The  wide  develo|)meiit  of  the  formation,  and  tiie  groat  thickness 
which  it  attains — probably  2,000  or  15,000  feet — and  the  even  grain  of 
the  thick  beds  of  sandstone  over  large  are:is,  together  with  the  rc- 
markalile  uniformity  of  the  strata,  indicate  that  they  were  foriiiiMl  in  a 
wide  spread  ocean  or  sea,  and  the  thick  beds  of  shale  attest  the  depth 
and  comparative  quiescence  of  the  water. 

He  found  the  Miocene  rocks  extending  in  a  continuous  belt  along 
the  base  of  ihe  Sierra  Nevada,  from  White  creek  to  Ocoya  creek  and 
beyond  it  for  many  miles  to  the  southward,  forming  high  baiiks  ou 
both  sides  of  Posuncula,  or  Keru  river,  and  even  extending  i;^  a  narrow 
strip  to  the  Tejon. 

Although  by  [\\v  the  greater  portion  of  the  materials  composing  the 
formation  are  extremely  light,  fine  and  unconsolidated,  there  arc,  in 
some  places,  layers  of  sandstone  and  conglomerate,  which  oti'cr  more 
resistani-e  to  the  action  of  the  weather  than  the  otiier  strata,  and  that 
slightly  modify  the  rounded  contour  of  the  hillsides.  The  |)rincipal 
constituent  of  the  I'ormation  is  a  line  gray  sand,  iningied,  in  some  of 
the  beds,  with  a  considcralile  portion  of  clay,  and  alternating  with 
layers  in  wliit'h  chiy  |)r(Mlomiiiates.  Volcanic  materials,  or  sands  do- 
rived  from  their  abrasion,  constitute  a  largo  part  of  the  strata.  Tliick 
beds  are    formed  almost   wholly  of  white   pumice  stone,   in  rounded 


rTT* 


ISO 


T<  i'/iari/. 


S 


iii.Msscs,  or  ill  !i  (ino  powthii',  like  Hue  smikI.  rc^iiliiily  hcdilcil.  Tlie 
('olor  of  tlicso  IkkIs  is  white,  luit  the  lines  of  sli;iti(l  iitiou  Mio  reiideKHl 
very  distinet  by  tlu!  stains  |)r(»  IiiccmI  I>y  llie  iieicoL-itioii  of  iiiipiire 
waters;  also,  hy  layers  of  the  s;nne  iii;j;i(Mlieiils,  (I'Meriiiu'  in  tlieii- 
fineness,  .'uid  by  oeeaslonal  sejinis  r»t  oh;uc<);i!,  ii,  IVn^incnts.  Thin 
layors  of  peldih's  arc^  also  nnnierons,  even  ••unoiiLi'  th''  strata  nl'  the 
finest  niateriais.  Tlie  ineliiieil  stratilieatiMn,  eaUeil  (liiinon.-ii  stnitili- 
cation,  is  viwy  eoniiiion,  and  in  many  enses  is  heMiitifiilly  siiown  by 
iniiltitndes  of  the  linest  layers  of  sand,  ineline(l  in  ditlereiit  directions. 

He  also  idontilied  tliis  Grniii)  on  Chieo  ei'tck,  in  the  v;illey  of  the 
Saer:in;eu;o,  Mt  the  foot  of  the  Hills  of  the  Sierra  Xeviidii,  on  C'lrrizo 
creek,  n(>ar  Sjin  Diego,  at  Williaiii'^on's  I'.iss,  f.os  Aniielos  and  S;in 
Peib'o.  Near  Monterey  it  contains  ji  bed  of  microscopic  oruMnisnis, 
50  feet  in  thickness  ;  and  li(>  sii|)i)')s(!d  it  (o  underlie  the  alhivinni  of 
the  ('ol()ra<lo  desert. 

1I(!   dc  cril)ed  tlie  Post-plioi-enc;  deposits  of  Monterey,  San   I'cd 


ro. 


and  Sau  Die^o,  and  showed  a  comparatively  recent  elevation  of  the 
strata.  The  low  hills  aronnd  the  bases  of  the  mountains  in  tlio 
Colorado  desert,  and  the  elevation  of  the  Coast  .Mountains,  he  sup- 
posed to  l»e  of  the  samo  age,  l)et'aus(>  they  are  comi)ose(l  in  great  part 
of  Tertiary  strata,  thrown  into  great  wave-likt'  flexures,  with  here  and 
there  a  gi'anitic  axis  of  limiti'd  extent,  but  with  serpentine  abund;int. 
In  the  auriferous  regions,  a  similar  s(!r|)i'ntine  abounds,  and  has  in  all 
cases  tlu!  aspect  of  an  intrusive  rock.  The  movements  which  attended 
the  uplift  and  plication  of  the  Ooast  Mountains,  must  have  alU'cted 
the  whole  west(Mn  sloi)o  of  the  Sierra  Nevada.  He  expressed  the  opin- 
ion that  the  impregnation  of  tlu;  rocks  with  gold,  and  the  formation  of 
the  (4)ast  Mountains,  were  nearly  synchronous. 

He  descrilKHl,  from  the  .Aliocene,  at  Point  Lobos,  near  San  Francisco. 
SculeJhi  interltne((f(i,  and  from  a  l)rown  calcareous  sandstone  at  \'ol- 
cano  Ridgi",  Leda  sulxw^iita^  now  Niicnhinci  .suhdciifd.  Prof.  Agassi/, 
described,  iVom  Ocoya  creek,  at  the  western  base  of  the  Sieri'a  Nevada, 
Echinorhinufi  hlnkci,  Scymnns  orcfdenfjdis,  (rdlcocerdn  prodiic/Ns, 
Pt'/()iiodo)i  anHqiuis,  Tlemipristls  hetei'opleitrus,  < 'arrhdyodon  rerfas'. 
Oxijrhniii  pJaiid,  O.  fnrnida,  Lamna  chivahi^  and  L,  orucUa,  T.  A. 
Conrail  describiMl,  from  the  same  locality,  JSTatira  i/eiiiridafa,  JV.  ocoii- 
ana,  JhiUajiKjnhin's,  Pfeti.rofoiiia  fraiisijtontaiinin,  Si/cofijpiis  ocojjdiiifn, 
Tarritella  ocoijajio,  doUis  (irrtaf.as,  Tellliid  ocoyana,  Meretrix  decisa. 
Pec/en  ncvudcus/.s,  P.  catilUforinis  ;  from  the  wSan  Diego  Mission, 
Curdlmn  ^iiodestum,  Corbiihi  dfeyoftiia,  Xitcnla  dei'/'sa,  7\-l/iii(i  dieyo- 
ana,  T.  congesta,  Mactra  dieyoana,  Narica  dieyoana,  now  Vunikor') 


Meno.ioir  (iiiil  (!iV)i<r:olc  Qeohjfju  ond  Pdliuoiifoloyi).         LSI 

dirijonitu,  C'i'iifihiihnn  s/>n)nsiriii,  Tt'oi'hi'ta  dliffotnxi  ;  (Voni  .Monterey 
coiiiily,  ('ij^litci'ii  iiiilcs  Hoiitli  (>r  Trc.-H  I'iiiO"^,  Mevclrix  iniiomen's ,  IVitin 
llic  'I'lil.in'  vmIIcv,  Mereli'ij'  fiilnrtind.  Arrn  int'crodoufd,  piirjiin'o  /je- 
frosii ;  from  (!;iniicll(),  f,iifr(n'i((  fru.s/rci  \  IVoui  sixti'cn  miles  soiitli  of 
'I'rcs  I'iiios,  Modiohi  i-oiih'ucht,  ii(»\v  Vnlsclhi  ('(nifj'nctti;  from  ( 'urrizo 
Cr<  t'lv,    /'ccfcii    (fcscr/i,    mikI   Os/rca   hccriii'iini'. 

lie  (Icscriltcil,  iVoiii  llic  I'(»-;l  |»li(>r('ii('  ;il  S;iu  I'cili'o,  Tellhin  jnd- 
t'omiii,  Stixh'ord  iihi'ii jifii ^  PoJi'li-(dii  pidrmi ii<U  ScJiizotlidi'iis  iiiilt<ilh\ 
JI;i/ihis  i)ctli'i)(i  mis.  Pen  if  el  Id  iii)ehv(t^  Xtissa  in/crsfri'i/d,  X.  /nu/ro- 
(Uin,  Olird  iicilrc'ind,  Lllhirliid  pcdi'cxnid,  ;iii(l  from  Saiila  li;irl»:iia, 
Ci'c/u'ihild  priiiceps. 

^^'.  I',  llliike  est  i'.iialcil  llu-  I  lii('lviic-<s  of  l,Iio  Koci'iic,  at  the  soiillici'U 
eml  of  the  Tulare  valley,  at  2,001)  ['wi.  The  strata  are  ehielly  ar::'llti- 
ceoiis  sandstone.  T.  A.  Conral  descrilx'l  iVoni  the  ('aiiada  de  las 
IJvas,  ('(irdiinii,  l/n/eiini,  now  C/jinhd/difO'd  h'ufcd,  Dosfiiid  tilftf, 
jtf  (')'(•/ 1'/. ('  (uilij'driiidiid,  J/".  iira.sdtKK  ('rn  sard  el  I  a  (tlta,  ('.  nvd.sdiiii, 
Mjitiliix  Iniiiients^  Xdtied  dlccdld,  now  A  iii/»t(lliiid  dlred/n,  Tinrifella 
iii'dsdiid,  VdhitlllflieK  cdl/f'oniid iixs,  JJim/ifi)//  bldkel^  now  Pcn'.s.sfddx 
bldl>(  i.  diiil  C/drdi'iiln  cdli/'oni icd.  It  is  ([nite  likely  thai  [)art  or  all 
of  tin-  strata  referreil  to  the  Fvx'ene  from  wliieh  these  fossils  were 
collected,  lieloni!,'  t,o  the  ( 'retaceon^*. 

He  de^eribed/'-  from  tlu'  .Miocene,  at  Santa  Barbara,  California, 
Jdiiird  helld.  Mill  In  id  deiisd/ii,  Ai'cd  eiDidlis,  A.  frilincald,  Axiiiit'it 
bdrhdri'iiniH ;  from  Santa  (Jiara,  Schizo/)!/(fd  edlifurnldiid  :  from  Kstrel- 
la  valley,  Palliatii  cslrclhiiiiim,  now  Lijropeefen  esfrelldiiinii,S/)oiidi/liis 
eslrcllaiisis  :  from  Monteicy  county,  Pdllimtt,  nrdssicordo,  now  Ljiro- 
pecfcn  enissicjjrdd,  Tlirddd  iiuicfropsin,  -^fi/"  iiioiifereijdnd^  Arcoi>d(iia 
niedidlix,  Cnjptoniiid  oi'dlis^  fijclns  fefricd,  Dosinia  altd,  I),  loinjnld, 
Taiiiiosoiiid  (ji'C(jd rid,  Astroddpaia  diUiselii ;  from  San  Rai)hael  Hills, 
Peetcii  ineekl,  P.  dlliplicdhis  ;  from  Santa  Inez  iNFountains,  /'didn/- 
desnid  iiiezanHiu  ;  from  Kanelie  Trinmpho,  near  Los  Angi'los,  Lnh'dria 
tfdHsuiDiiUind  ;  from  other  })laces  in  (yalifornin,  Arod  coutjestd^  Tapes 
liiilc.diinn  ;  and  from  Texas.  Melliln  Icxdna. 

Dr.  Leidy  described,  tVoni  llu-  r>ad  Lands  of  Nebraska,  Hippdi'lon 
oceidentdle,  now  llippotheriiuii  oi'i'identdle,  II ijopoldiiiiia  dineriediius, 
Lejddncheiiid  deeoid,  L.  vidjor,  Leptochixirus  s/iecldbilis,  Sleneojiber 
nebi'ftxccnsis,  /.schi/roihi/s  li/piis,  Paheidnf/ns  hdi/deir',  Eumijs  elci/dns, 
Aiiijdiii'ijon  <j}'d('ili!>\  .i{/riocha')'iis  nidjor,  Enteledon  ini/en.s,  now 
EUdherlaia    iiii/ens,    Pdlwochnwus    probiis,    now   Perehonrus  probas ; 


"*  I'roi'.  Aead.  Nat.  Sei.,  vol.  viii. 


^, 


IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


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Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporalion 


23  WKST  MAIN  STRUT 

WEBSTER,  N.Y.  14SS0 

(716)872-^503 


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from  Bear  creek,  Protomeryx  hnlU ;  from  the  riiocene  of  Ashley 
river,  South  Carolina,  and  from  the  Pliocene  of  New  Jersey  and 
Vircjinia,  3Ianntus  <infiqui(s.  Phoca  debUis ;  from  the  iMioccnc  of 
CnmlnM'land  county,  Md.,  Macrophoca  atlanUca,  now  Sqvalodon 
alhinticiis,  Sphyrmna  speciosa  ;  from  North  Carolina,  Orycterocetus 
corn iit.ideiis,  PUoyonodon  prisons ;  from  Salem  county.  New  Jersey, 
CheJonia  f/randfcvrf ;  from  the  Eocene  of  the  Neuse  river.  North 
Carolina,  Ischyrhiza  ant i qua ;  troni  Green  river,  IMissouri,  Clupea 
hntnilix^  now  Diplomystiis  hnmflis ;  from  tl>f^  TTpiJor  Tertiary'  of  the 
Bijou  Hills,  on  the  Upper  jMissuuri,  Ilerychippus  insiynis,  now 
Prof.ohippus  inslynis  and  Leptarctns  primus. 

In  1857,  Dr  F.  V,  Hayden*  made  an  estimated  vertical  section, 
showing  the  order  of  superposition  of  the  ditforent  beds  of  the  Bad 
Lands  of  White  river,  in  Nebraska,  referred  to  the  Miocene,  in  ascend- 
ing order  as  follows: 

Bed  A. —  Light  gray,  calcareous  grit,  passing  down  into  a  stratum 
composed  of  an  aggregate  of  rather  coarse,  granular  quartz;  underlaid 
by  an  asii-colored,  argillaceous,  indurated  bed.  with  a  greenish  tinge. 
TtfanofJierium  bed.  Best  developed  at  tlie  entrance  of  the  Basin  from 
Bear  creek.  Seen  also  in  the  channel  of  White  river.  Tliickness,  50 
feet. 

Bod  B. — A  reddish,  fx-sli-colored,  argillo-calcareous,  indurated  materi- 
al, passing  down  into  a  gray  color,  containing  concretionar}' sandstone, 
sometimes  an  aggregate  of  angular  grains  of  quartz,  underlaid  by  a 
flesh  colored,  argillo  calcareous,  indurated  stratum,  containing  a  pro- 
fusion of  mammalian  and  cheloniun  remains.  Turtle  and  Oreodon 
bed.  Revealed  on  both  sides  of  Wliite  river  and  throughout  the  main 
body  of  the  Bad  Lands.     Thickness,  80  Icet. 

Bed  C. — Light  gray,  siliceous  grit,  sometimes  forming  a  compact,  fine- 
grained sandstone.  Seen  on  both  sides  of  White  river.  Also  at  Ash 
Grove  Spring.     Thickness,  20  feet. 

Bed  D. — Yellow  and  light  yellow,  calcareous  marl,  with  argdlo-cal- 
careous  concretions,  and  slabs  of  siliceous  limestone,  containing  well- 
preserved  fresh- ivat'jr  shells.  On  the  south  side  of  White  river.  Seen 
in  its  greatest  thickness  at  Pina's  Spring.     Tliickness,  40  feet. 

Bed  E. — Yellowish  and  flesh  col(<ied,  indurated  argillo-calcareous 
bed,  with  tough  argillo-calcareous  concretions,  containing  Testudo, 
Hipparion,  Sfeneojibcr,  Oreodon  and  llhinoceros.  Seen  along  the 
White  river  valley,  on  the  south  side.     Thickness,  30  feet. 


*  Proc.  Acad.  Nnt.  Sci.,  vol.  ix. 


Mesozoic  and  C(nnozoic  Geology  and  Palceoutology.  1S3 


Bed  F. — Grayish  and  light  gray,  rather  coarse  grained  sandstone, 
with  much  sulphate  of  alumina  (?)  disseminaled  through  it,  Alo:  g 
White  river  valley,  on  the  south  side.     Thickness,  20  feet. 

r.id  (J. — Yellowish-gray  grit,  passing  down  into  a  yellow  and  light 
yellow  argillo-calcareous  marl,  witii  numerous  calcareous  concretions, 
and  much  crystalline  material,  like  sulphate  of  baryta.  Fossils  : 
Hipparioti^  3feri/chippi(s  and  Stencojiber.  Bijou  Hills,  3Iedicinc 
Hills.  Eagle  Nest  Hills,  and  numerous  localities  on  south  side  of 
White  river,  also  at  the  head  of  Teton  river.     Thickness,  50  feet. 

Bed  H. — Gray  and  greenish-gray  sandstone,  varying  from  a  ver}- 
fine  compact  structure  to  a  conglomerate.  IJijuu  Hills,  Aledicinc 
Hills,  and  Eagle  Nest  Hills.     Thickness,  20  feet. 

T.  A.  Conrad  described,*  from  the  Pliocene,  in  Monterey  county, 
California,  Mya  subsinunta  ;  from  San  Pablo  bny,  Pecten  pabloeuais  ; 
from  Santa  Margarita,  Salinas  valley,  Calif'»rnin,f  Ilinnites  crasnus  ; 
from  between  La  Purissima  and  Santa  Inez,  Pecten  d>  .cus ;  from  Santa 
Inez  mountains,  Pecten  mrn/nolia,  Tapes  /.Dezen.sis,  Crnssatella  cotltna, 
Mytilus  inezensis,  Turritella  inezann,  T.  vai'iata,  Natica  inezfiva. ; 
from  P^strella  valley,  Cyclas  estrellana,  Ostrea  panzana,  Gtycimeris 
estrellanus,  Aatrodapsis  anti.selli ;  IVom  San  Buenaventma,  'Tapes 
muiitana,  Periia  montana ;  from  Piijaro  river,  Santa  Cruz,  Venns 
pajaroann  ;  from  the  shore  of  Santa  Barbara  county,  Arcopayia  niida; 
from  Sierra  Monica,  Cyclas  permacra,  Ostrea  subjectc  ;  Irom  San  Luis 
Ol)ispo  valley.  Area  obispoana  ;  from  Salinas  river,  ^Fonterey  county. 
Dosinia  montana,  D.  snbobliqna ;  and  from  Gaviote  Pass,  JIactra 
gavlotensis,  and  T'rochita  costellata. 

lie  described^  from  supi)0sed  Miocene  strata  at  Rancho  Helena, 
below  Salado,  Ostrea  veleniana,  and  from  Western  Texas,  in  strata 
supposed  to  be  Eocene,  Venus  vespertina.  I  am  inclined  to  believe, 
however,  that  this  is  a  Cretaceous  species. 

He  described, §  from  the  Eocene  of  Alabama,  Cahiptrophorus  trino- 
diferns. 

Dr.  Thomas  Antisell||  made  the  following  section  of  the  Miocene 
stiata  of  California,  viz  : 

1.  Upper  jMioci'ue,  consisting  of  bituminous  and  foraminiferous 
beds,  tia[)pean  coiigionierate,  soft,  yellow  sandstone,  foraminiffirous 
ia;yersand  argillite  l»cds.     Thickness,  400  feet. 


'•'  Expl.  and  Siir.  R.  R.  Mit-s.  Riv.  to  Pacilic  ocean,  vo!.  vi. 

■jr  Expl.  nnil  Siir.  U.  U.  Miff.  Hiv.  to  I'licific  oc(  an,  vol.  vii. 

t  U.  S.  nn'l  MfX.  Round,  Sur.  vol.  i. 

g  Pro.  Aoad.  Niit.  Sci.,  vol.  ix. 

Il  Expl.  and  Siir.  R.  R.  Miss.  Riv.  to  Pacific  ocean,  vol.  vii. 


184 


Tertiary. 


\  '\  I 


2.  Middle  Miocene,  consisting  of  grits  and  calcareous  sandstones,  as 
at  Panza  and  Santa  ^Margarita.  Thickness,  UOO  feet.  And  the  San 
Antonia  sandstones  with  Dosinia.     Thickness,  230  feet. 

3.  Lower  Miocene,  consisting  of  the  gvps(;ous  and  ferruginous 
sandstones  of  Santa  Inez,  Panza,  and  Gayilaii,  containing  Osf.rea, 
and  TorrUclhi.  Thickness,  1,200  feet.  Total  thickness  of  the 
Miocene,  2,211  feet,  but  part  of  this  has  since  been  referred  to  Eocene 
age. 

He  supposed  that  the  elevation  of  the  Coast  Rjmge,  in  California, 
above  the  water  level,  was  an  event  much  later  n.'  time  than  tnat  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada.  During  the  Eocene  period,  the  latter  range  must 
have  had  its  crest  considerably  above  water,  and  was  uplifted,  finally, 
after  the  Pliocene  period  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  during  the  whole  of 
ihe  3Ii(ieenc;  pe."i';fi,  the  Coast  Range  was  altogether  benea'h  the  sea 
level.  Anterior  to  the  Post-pliocene  period,  the  erupted  rock  tilted  up 
their  strata,  whicli,  perhaps,  did  not  reach  the  level  of  the  ocean  sur- 
face, and  upon  these  smoothed  edges,  were  deposited  the  unconsoli- 
daled  clays  and  local  drift.  They  had  not,  however,  fully  a[)peared 
above  the  surface  of  the  ocean  until  the  close  of  the  Post  pliocene 
period.  The  elevated  sea  beaches  found  distributed  over  so  large  an 
extent  of  country,  from  north  to  south,  at  a  level  of  from  100  to  150 
feet  above  the  sea.  and  containing  species,  all  of  which  are  now  exist- 
ing, show  how  comparatively  recent  is  the  final  elevation  of  the  lower 
lands  of  the  State,  and  phices  the  time  of  elevation  of  this  range  in  the 
earlv  portion  of  the  Post-pliocene  period.  The  plutonic  rocks  of  the 
coast  hills,  also  attest  the  comparative  newness  of  the  land;  pumice, 
obsidian,  felspathic  lava,  trachyte,  amygdaloidal  greenstone,  au<l  ser- 
pei'tinc.  Vol<Tajic  rocks,  of  the  latest  kind,  are  choye  which  :ue  com- 
monly distributed  both  in  the  form  of  axes  and  veins,  or  seams. 
Granite  is  also  found,  though  not  so  extensive  as  a  disturbing  agent, 
or  :in  elev;it(M'  of  a  mountain  ridge.  When  found  in  place,  it  is  an 
oldci-  roek  than  those  al)Ove  mentioned,  being  cut  through  and  in- 
jected liy  them,  in  many  places  ;  but  the  granite,  in  the  Coast  Moun- 
tains, is  a  modern  granite,  being  either  highly  felspathic,  passing  into 
leui'ite,  and  even  trachyte  in  many  places,  or  it  is  hornblendic,  and 
passes  inlo  a  hornblende  porphyry  ;  micaceous  granite  is  very  s[)ar- 
ingly  distributed  in  Southern  California.  The  elevation  of  the  Coast 
Range  must  have  taken  place  from  two  points,  one  in  the  north,  and 
one  in  the  south  ;  the  latter  force  commencing  in  tlie  southern  part  of 
San  Luis  Obispo,  and  the  eastern  part  of  Santa  Barbara  counties,  and 
thence  extending  north  ;  as  the  upheaving  force   passed  northward. 


Jlesuzoic  and  Ccbnozoic  Geology  and    PalnontoloffiJ.         18^ 


wm 


i-t  of 

antl 

varil, 


its  power  hccamo  spent,  and  niiahie  to  lift  the  imposed  strata  ;  a 
similar  acLion  from  tiie  iiorlli,  acting  in  a  soutiierly  direction  with 
less  vigor,  prodneed  an  nplift,  wliose  aetion  eeascd  between  latitude 
87°  and  ;]S°.  So  tliat  while  the  eonsoliihited  ernst  ol"  the  State  was  up- 
lifted at  eaeh  end,  it  was  qiiieseent,  or  nearly  so,  i'l  the  middle  ;  and 
the  two  foiees  aet'ng  against  eaeh  other  may  have  [)roduee<l  a  rupture 
of  the  su[)erneial  strata,  and  even  a  depression  of  the  surfaee  below  the 
sea  level,  in  whieli  the  waters  of  San  Pablo,  Suisun,  and  San  Franeis- 
co,  have  taken  thei"  resting  place. 

I)ei)ressions  of  the  strata  and  fissures  from  east  to  west  across  the 
line  of  the  mountain  ranges  are  common  along  the  Pacilic,  noilh  of  this 
point,  latitude  'J8  deg.,  and  extend  inland  even  oast  of  the  Sierra  Ne- 
vada. In  the  course  of  these  depressions  rivers  run.  The  Klamath 
and  the  Columbia  are  fxamples;  which  i-ivers  might  possibly  never 
have  emptied  their  waters  into  thePaeifie,  but  for  this  fracturing  etlcet 
produced  by  opposing  volcanic  forces. 

The  upheaval  of  the  Coast  Ranges  have  brought  to  view  only  Ter- 
tiary strata  of  the  jMiocene,  and  beds  of  clay  of  the  Post  pliocene 
periods.  These  beds  are  thicker  and  more  extensively  distriiiited  in  a 
connected  series  than  anywhere  else  on  this  continent,  In  this  respect 
they  rival  or  even  excel  the  strata  on  the  shores  of  the  ^Mediten  tuu-an. 
It  is  interesting  to  trace  the  resemblane'}  of  form  and  outline  of  hills 
produced  l)y  similarity  of  geological  circumstances,  wheiher  of  forma- 
tion or  upheaval.  ]Many  of  the  scenes  of  Caliibrnia  resemble  those  on 
the  shores  of  nort'aern  Greece,  Rouinelia,  northern  Syria  and  the 
Calabrian  peninsula. 

There  are  no  phenomena  in  California  referable  to  tlie  period  of  the 
polar  drift  or  ancient  alluvium,  when  the  transport  of  larg(!  l)l()cks  or 
bowlders  occurred.  Over  the  extensive  plains  east  of  the  Sierra  Ne- 
vada, in  Tulare  valle}-,  in  the  [pleasant  little  oak  valleys  of  the  Coast 
Ranges,  or  on  the  terrace  plains  of  the  shore,  not  a  single  bowlder  is  to 
be  met  with — not  a  stone  from  whie'li  the  plough  might  turn  aside.  This 
period,  was,  apparently,  one  of  quiet  in  this  State.  Yet  tlie  mountain 
chains  were  elevated  at  this  time.  The  topography  was  almost  the 
same  as  at  present,  save  the  whole  plain  country  was  below  the  water 
level  ;  there  were,  therefore,  elcvfvted  ranges  from  which  the  counties 
along  the  coast  might  have  li.ad  scattered  over  their  surface  these 
blocks;  but  the  Sierra  Nevada  has  contributed  no  bowlders  upon  these 
plains,  nor  is  there  any  stone  includ.'d  in  the  terraces  which  may  not 
be  classed  as  belonging  to  those  ranges  immediately  bounding  the  de- 
posit. 


4    ., 


180 


Tertiary. 


'  1 


Not  that  the  whole  Post-pliocene  epoch  was  passed  without  produc- 
ing; its  effects:  denudation  on  an  extensive  scale,  lacustrine  deposits, 
iuiinonso  deposits  of  clay,  sands,  and  gravels  attest  the  loni?  period 
alike  of  action  and  of  I'epose  which  characterize  the  later  Post-pliocene 
period,  when  the  effects  were  more  local,  and  every  valley  and  plain  had 
its  beds  of  gravel  arid  clay  formed  from  its  mountain  margins. 

Consideiations  founded  on  the  zoological  characters  of  the  moUnsk.s 
of  the  Miocene  period  cf  Europe,  have  led  to  the  belief  that  the  tem- 
perature of  that  epoch  approached  very  much  to  that  of  Spain  and 
Italy  at  the  present  time,  or  a  mean  temperature  about  GO  deg.  Fahren- 
heit. As  that  temperature  is  almost  the  exact  figure  for  a  great  por- 
tion of  the  area  observed,  it  follows  that  there  is  little,  if  any,  difference 
betwci  1  tlie  climate  of  the  ]Mioce:^e  of  Europe,  and  the  present  period 
in  those  places;  and  since  the  drift  of  California  is  local,  and  not  gen- 
eral, and  there  are  no  traces  on  the  surface  of  roc-ks- exposed,  of  scratch- 
ing or  grooving,  no  moraines,  no  polished  rocks  (roches  moutonnees), 
no  traces  of  glacier  action,  perha|)s  it  may  be  asserted  with  safety  that 
the  climate  and  tempei'ature  of  this  region,  from  the  Miocene  period 
to  the  present  time,  has  preserved  a  constancy  and  equalit}',  which 
latitudes  more  jjolar  than  40  deg.  never  possessed. 

Artesian  boring  through  the  Post-pliocene  beds,  in  the  Los  Angeios 
valley,  showed  : 
'  1.  Alluvium,  6  feet. 

2.  Blue  clay,  30  feet. 

3.  Drift  gravel,  22  feet. 

4.  Arenaceous  clay,  lli  feet. 

5.  Tenaccous  blue  clay,  300  feet. 

Such  a  thickness  of  deposit  might  be  attributable  t;o  the  local  circum- 
stances, namely,  a  deep  trough  in  the  sandstone  strata  under  an  eleva- 
tion, almost  vertical,  close  by  ;  yet  that  these  incoherent  beds  are 
U'^ually  of  great  depth  is  evident  from  the  smooth  surface  of  the  whole 
plain,  which  preserves  its  gradual  slope  fioui  the  Cordilleras  to  the 
ocean,  independent  of  the  dip  or  upheaval  of  the  strata  beneath.  Again, 
when  looking  from  the  south  entrance  of  the  Cajon  Pass  toward  San 
Bernardino,  at  an  altitude  of  2,000  feet,  there  may  be  perceived  a  broad 
teirace  at  the  base  of  the  mountain,  consisting  of  loose  conglomerates, 
gravel  and  clay  beds,  lying  at  an  elevation  nearly  200  feet  above  the 
present  level  of  the  plain  in  its  "neighborhood,  and  which  are  tiie  only 
remains  of  a  series  of  beds  which  have  been  removed  from  the  lower 
and  more  exposed  parts  of  the  plain.  Its  average  thickness,  perhnps, 
might  be  about  200  feet;  the  other  beds  would  preserve  throughout  a 


ing 


Mesozoic  and  Canozoio  Geology  and   Palaiontology.         187 


pretty  uniform  tliiekness  ;  of  these,  bed  4,  an  arenaceous,  yellow  clay, 
is  described  as  containing  small  marine  shiills.  The  brownish  loamy 
v\ay  (bed  1),  !.,  exposed  by  every  creek,  and  in  the  sections  produced 
bv  tltc  Los  Angclos  river,  several  feet  of  the  bluish  clay  (2)  are  ex- 
posed ;  the  beds  are  deposited  almost  perfectly  horizontal,  and  are, 
tiierefore,  unconformable  to  the  soft  sandstones  of  the  San  Pedro 
hills  and  the  Sierra  Monica,  which  in  the  former  case  have  a  dip  of  20 
dog.,  and  in  ilie  latter  are  in  places  almost  vertical  ;  they  have,  there- 
fore, been  deposited  posterior  to  the  upheaval  of  these  soft  Tertiary 
sandstones,  and  the  surfaces  have  undergone  no  material  alteration  of 
contour  since,  the  only  change  being  that  of  elevation  of  the  whole 
region  out  of  the  bed  of  the  sea. 

An  investigation  into  the  mineral  nature  of  these  various  deposits 
shows  that  the  alluvial  covering,  to  the  depth  of  six  or  seven  feet,  is 
aluminous  in  its  liner  parts,  and  granitic  pebble  in  its  coarser,  and  has 
been  tlie  result  of  the  degradation  of  granitic  and  t'>lspathic  rocks. 
The  soil  of  the  plain  is  rare!}'  quartzose,  except  when  close  to  some  of 
the  low  Tertiary  hills,  which  alteration  may  therefore  be  due  to  the 
wash  of  these  latter. 

The  blue  clay  is  generally  assigned  by  geologists  to  a  slow  deposit 
of  mud,  proiluced  by  the  sifting  action  of  the  tide  in  estuaries  or  gulfs 
where  matter  is  not  tran«;portcd  by  current  actions  ;  it  is  the  evidence 
of  a  calm  condition  of  the  waters  during  the  period  of  deposit,  and  a 
cessation  of  upheavals  of  the  land  contiguous  •,  the  two  beds  of  bluish 
clay  are  separated  by  nearly  forty  feet  of  gravel  and  sand. 

The  drift  gravel  (bed  3)  consists  not  only  of  rounded  granitic 
pe])blcs,  but  also  those  of  syenite,  hornblende  schists,  metamorphic, 
brown  sandstones,  trap  and  am3'gdaloid  ;  and  the  underlying  sandy 
bed  is  chiefly  quartzose,  and  probably  is  the  detritus  of  the  sandstones 
at  the  base  of  the  Cordilleras. 

There  have  been  no  very  large  stones  seen  in  the  drift  beds,  there 
are  no  loose  bowlders  or  erratic  blocks,  nor  is  there,  either  on  the  sur- 
face or  in  the  deposits,  any  stone  which  can  not  be  traced  to  masses  of 
similar  mineral  constitution  in  the  ranges  bordering  the  plain.  The 
period  of  general  or  polar  drift,  therefore,  which  was  one  of  the  earliest 
of  the  Post-pliocene  epoch,  passed  by  without  affecting  California  ; 
and  it  was  during  the  later  periods  of  drift  that  the  processes  of  wear, 
ing  down  cont,inents  -and  depositing  them  in  the  seas  around  took 
place,  and  were  carried  out  on  an  immense  scale,  and  over  an  immensely 
extended  period  of  time. 

Los  Angelos  plain  is  not  the  only  one  in  California,  where  these  de 


■■,!■ 


I      !. 


188 


Tertiary. 


|»  ft 


posits  of  clays  and  gravels  are  of  great  flopth.  The  borings  which 
have  been  made  in  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin  plains  have  revealed 
a  similar  structure  of  basin,  while  that  in  Santa  Clara  valley,  Santa 
Clara  county,  shows  that  the  deposit  has  not  been  to  so  great  a  depth 
in  that  plain.  Thus,  at  the  Stockton  well  boring,  after  passing  through 
red  claj's,  sands,  and  gravel,  the  blue  clay  was  met  with  at  the  depth 
of  400  feet.  On  the  Sacramento  valley,  between  the  city  and  Pit  river, 
the  lava  clays  and  sands  cover  the  blue  day  to  the  depth  ot  358  feet. 
In  the  Santa  Clara  vallej',  the  covering  of  clay  and  light  sand  above 
blue  clay  is  from  80  to  115  feet. 

Blue  clays  are  found  465  feet  below  the  surface  at  Los  Angelos,  and, 
therefore,  below  the  present  sea  level ;  while  the  surface  of  the  terrace 
on  San  Bernardino  is  somewhat  above  2,000  feet  in  altitude,  and  as  tiie 
beds  are  horizontal,  or  nearly  so,  it  follows  that  near  Los  Angelos  the 
deposit  took  place  when  the  water  was  over  2,000  feet  deep  at  that 
point.  All  the  low  Tertiary  hills  were  ledges  of  rock,  several  hundred 
feet  below  low  water.  The  ocean  then  rolled  up  east  of  the  Cordilleras, 
occupying  the  Colorado  desert  and  the  Mohave  valley;  and  the  Cor- 
dilleras stood  up  like  a  peninsula  in  the  great  mass  of  waters,  with  its 
crests  from  3,000  to  5,000  feet  above  the  surface,  and  with  a  breadth 
not  more  than  60  miles  from  S.  W.  to  N.  E.  From  the  wearing  down 
of  the  felspathic  rocks,  the  granitic  porphyries,  and  the  dark  colored 
shales,  arose  the  blue  cla}  s,  while  the  trappean  and  hornblende  rocks 
formed  the  material  of  the  coarser  drift,  transported  by  currents  pro 
duced  by  the  elevations.  The  carriage  of  such  coarse  matter  would 
inevitably  remove  large  portions  of  the  Tertiary  hills  of  the  plain,  and 
form  the  breaks  which  now  occur  in  what  was  once  a  continuous  chain, 
the  denuded  matter  itself  going  to  form  the  bed  of  arenaceous  clay. 

It  has  been  calculated  that  the  deposit  going  on  at  present  in  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  produced  both  by  the  alluvium  of  the  Mississippi  and 
the  transported  mud  of  the  Amazon,  does  not  exceed  more  than  half 
an  inch  yeai'ly.  There  is  nothing  in  the  topographical  condition  of 
Southern  California  to  warrant  the  belief  that  the  slow  deposit  could 
have  occurred  to  a^reater  depth  in  the  same  space  of  time;  for  there  is 
no  evidence  of  the  double  influence  of  a  large  river  and  a  strong  current 
of  sea  water  coinciding.  Admitting,  however,  that  the  same  rate  of 
deposit  occurred  then  as  now  in  the  two  localities,  the  period  of 
deposit  of  the  lower  blue  clay  bed  would  be  7,200  years,  and  of  the 
upper  blue  clay  and  gravels  above  1,600  years,  making  a  total  of  8,800 
years  of  perfect  repose.  If  to  this  we  add  the  periods  of  elevation, 
both  rapid  and  slow,  the  total  period  occupied  by  the  deposit  of  Post- 


Mesozoic  and  Ceenozoic  Geology  and   Pnlmontolouy.         189 


pliocene  beds,  would  equal  tlie  period  occupied  by  some  deposits  of  the 
Secondary  age.  Yet  such  a  calculation  would  scarcely  give  the  total 
period  accurately,  since  neither  has  the  base  of  the  lower  blue  clay 
yet  been  reached,  nor  should  the  present  alluvial  surface  bo  looked  y\\\ua 
as  the  last  deposit  of  that  epoch,  or  the  prelude  of  the  modern  period; 
since,  the  slopes  of  San  Bernardino  display  a  series  of  conglomerates  and 
gravels  200  feet  above  the  level  of  the  nearest  stream  (Cajon  creek). 
These  are  coarse  accumulations  of  primary  pebbles  and  granitic  clays, 
which  have  been  removed  from  every  portion  of  the  plain  where  it  is 
exposed.  In  the  gorges  and  canons  it  still  remains  ;  and  wherever  a 
pass  has  been  traveled,  there  it  is  found,  as  the  superficial  covering,  be- 
tween 200  and  300  feet  deep  ;  this,  the  last  evidence  of  deposit  of 
the  Post-pliocene  period,  has  not  been  considered  in  calculation  of  du- 
I'ation.  Yet  such  a  deposit  must  have  existed  over  the  plain,  and  must 
have  been  removed  afterward;  so  that  two  additional  periods  would 
still  require  to  be  added  to  make  the  calculation  complete,  namely,  the 
period  occupied  by  the  last  deposit,  and  the  period  occupied  by  its  re- 
moval. 

Prof.  J.  W.  Dawson*  said  that  the  mountain  of  Montreal,  in 
Canada,  which  rises  700  feet,  forms  a  tide-gauge  of  the  Post-pliocene 
sea,  marking,  on  its  sides  by  a  series  of  sea  cliffs  and  elevated  beaches, 
the  stages  of  gradual  or  intermittent  elevation  of  the  land  as  it  lose 
to  its  present  level.  The  most  strongly  marked  of  these  sea  margins, 
are  at  heights  of  470,  440,  386,  and  220  teet  above  Lake  St.  Peter,  on 
the  St.  Lawrence,  or  450,  420,  366,  and  200  feet  above  the  river  at 
Montreal. 

The  highest  of  these  beaches  contains  sea  shells  of  existing  species. 
Below  the  lowest,  and  at  an  elevation  of  about  100  feet  above  the  river, 
spreads  the  grea<:  Tertiary  plain  of  Lower  Canada,  everywhere  con- 
taining marine  shells,  and  presenting  a  series  of  deposits  partly  un- 
stratified  and  partly  assorted  by  water.  In  this  vicinity,  the  regular 
sequence  is  as  follows  :  1.  Fine,  uniformly  grained  sand,  in  some 
places  underlaid  or  replaced  by  stratified  gravel.  Marine  shells  in 
the  lower  part.  2.  Unctuous,  calcareous  claj',  of  gray,  and  occasionally 
of  brown  and  reddish  tints.  A  few  marine  shells.  3.  Compact, 
bowlder  clay,  filled  with  fragments  of  various  rocks,  usually,  partially 
rounded,  and  often  scratched  and  polished. 

The  thickness  of  these  b  Is  is  at  least  100  feet,  of  which  the  lower 
or  bowlder  clay  constitutes  the  greater  part,  but  the  sand  often  attains 


t\n\ 


100 


Tertiary. 


■  i 


tho  thickness  of  10  feot,  and  tlio  fine  clny  20  feet.  The  City  of 
Monticftl  is  built  upon  this  deposit.  The  bowlders  are  not  confined  to 
the  bowlder  clay,  but  are  also  found  in  tlio  stratified  clays  and  sand. 
The  bowlders  derived  from  tho  mountain,  have  been  drifted  to  tho 
southwest,  in  which  direction  they  have  been  traced  to  the  south 
shoreof  Lake  Ontario,  270  miles  distant.  The  terraces  are  best  seen 
on  the  northeast  siile  of  the  mountain.  The  rocks  beneath  the  bowl- 
der clay,  are  striated  here  S.  70°  W.  and  8.  50°  W.  In  some  places  the 
surface  of  the  bowlder  clay  has  been  deepl}' cut  into  furrows  by  the 
currents  which  deposited  sand  and  gravel  upon  it.  In  like  manner 
the  surface  of  the  stratified  clay,  is  sometimes  cut  into  trenches  filled 
by  the  overlying  sand. 

All  the  beds  above  referred  to  belong  to  the  close  of  the  Tertiary 
period,  and  they  are  all  marine  ;  but  they  may  have  been  deposited  at 
distant  intervals  of  time,  and  in  waters  of  verv  various  depths  and  area. 
From  the  abundance  of  the  Snxicava  rugosa  in  the  upper  bed,  it  was 
named  the  Saxicava  sand,  and  from  the  aoundance  of  the  Leda  port- 
landica,  in  the  middle  bed,  it  was  called  the  Leda  clay. 

Dr.  Albert  C.  Koch*  stated  that  he  collected,  in  18.39,  in  Gasconade 
county,  Missouri,  about  400  yards  from  the  bank  of  Bourbense  river, 
where  there  was  a  spring,  the  remains  of  a  Mastodon  under  such  cir- 
cumstances as  to  show  that  it  had  been  burnt  to  death,  and  while  under- 
going tliis  punishment  had  also  been  struck  with  bowlders  and  shot 
with  arrows.  The  animal  had  evidently  been  mired  as  its  legs  were  in 
an  upright  position  with  the  toes  preserved.  The  ashes  was  from  2  to 
fi  inches  in  thickness,  showing  that  the  fire  had  been  kept  up  for  a  con- 
siderable length  of  time.  In  the  ashes  he  found  stone  arrow  heads,  a 
stone  spear  head,  and  some  stone  axes.  The  whole  was  covered  by 
strata  of  alluvial  deposits  consisting  of  claj',  sond  and  soil  from  8  to  9 
feet  thick.  He  also  stated  that  about  ,  le  year  later  he  found  another 
Mastodon  which  he  called  the  "  Missourium,"  in  Benton  county,  under 
about  20  feet  of  alluvial  deposits,  and  with  the  bones  were  several  stone 
arrow  heads,  one  of  which  la}-^  underneath  the  thigh  bone,  and  in  con- 
tact with  it. 


*  Trans.  St.  Louis.  Acad.  Sci.,  vol.  i. 


Meaoxoir   nitil  f'trnnzoir    Gcohjtji/   tnuJ    I^dhionfa/offif. 


101 


In  iN.'iiS,  Dr.  K.  \'.  llnyilvn*  [)rt'i)!ir('(l  a  vcitictil  section,  showing- 
tlu' order  of  snpiiposition  of  tli»^  (Uircrcnt  l»(!<ls  of  the 'f'erlinry  Hjisin 
of  White  jind  Nlohraru  rivei's.  The  Miocene,  he  divided,  in  ascending 
order,  as  follows: 

1.  /ied  J.— Light  gray,  line  sand,  with  more  or  less  calcaicons 
matter,  [tassing  down  into  an  ash-eolored  plastic  day,  with  large 
qnnntities  of  (piartz  grains  disseminated  through  it,  sometimes  form- 
ing aggregated  masses  like  (piaitzose  sandstone  cemented  with  plaster; 
then  an  ash-colored  clay  witli  a  greenish  tinge,  underlaid  at  base  by  a 
light  gray  and  fei'rnginoiis  siiicions  ,sand  and  gravel,  with  piidvish 
bands.  Immense  (piantities  of  silex,  in  tlie  form  of  seams,  all  through 
the  beds.  Titanolherium  lied.  Found  on  Old  Woman's  creek,  and  in 
many  localities  along  tli.  valley  of  the  South  Kork  of  Shyenne.  Best 
development  on  Sage  and  Hear  creeks.  Seen  at  several  localities  in 
the  valley  of  White  river.     Thickness,  80  to  100  feet. 

2.  ,lied  Ji.-^A  deep  Hesh-colored,  argillocalcareous,  indurated  grit; 

the  outside,   when  weathered,    has  the  appearance  of  a  plastic  clay. 

Passes  down  into  a  gray  clay,  with  layers  of  sandstone;  underlaid  by  a 

flesh-colored,    argillo-caleareons    stratum,  containing   a    profusion  of 

Maminalian  ami  Chelonian  remains.     Turtle  and  Oreodon  Red.    Fonml 

on  Old  Woman's  creek,  a  fork  of  Shyenne  river,  on  tlie  head  of  the 

South  Fork  of  the  Shyenne;  most  conspicuous  on  Sago  and  Bear 
creeks,  and  at  Ash  Grove  Spring,  and  well  developed  in  numerous 
localities  in  the  valley  of  White  river.     Thickness,  80  to  100  feet. 

.'J.  Bed  C. — \''ery  fine,  yellow,  calcareous  sand,  not  differing  very 
materially  from  Bed  D,  with  numerous  layers  of  concretions,  and 
rarely  organic  remains,  ])assing  down  into  a  variegated  bed,  consisting 
of  alternate  layers  of  dark  brown  clay,  and  light  gray,  calcareous  grit, 
foi'uiing  bands,  of  which  twenty-seven  were  counted  at  one  localit}-, 
from  one  inch  to  two  feet  in  thickness.  Found  on  White  river,  Bear 
creek.  Ash  Grove  Spring  and  head  of  Shyenne  river,  l)ut  most  con- 
spicuous near  White  river.     Thickness,  oO  to  80  feet. 

4.  Bed  D. — A  dull,  reddish-broun.  indurated  grit,  with  many  layers 
of  silico-calcareous  concretions,    sometimes  forming  a  heavv-bedded, 


*  Pro<".  Acad.  Xat.  Sci.,  vol.  x. 


192 


Tafia  ry. 


f 


(liio-gniiiu'd  .sjiiKlMtoiic,  and  coiitjiiiiiiij^  ('(niipariitivcly  I'cw  (»igimi(r  ic 
iniiiiiH.     Found  on  tlic  Nioln'iirii  and   IMatt*'  rivcis;  well  dcvulopi'd  in 
the  ix'gion  of  Fort  Ljininiic,  and  in  tlu'  valley  ol' White  river;  and  I'on- 
spi(!UonH,  and  eomposinj^  the  main  part  of  the  dividinj^'  ridge  hetwi-en 
White  and  Niobrara  rivers.     ThicknesH,  .'{50  to  400  leot. 

f).  Hcd  E. — Usually  a  eoarHe-j^rained  sandstone,  sonictirn('s  heavy 
bedded  and  eoinpaet;  sometimes  loose  and  ineoherent,  and  varyiny 
mneh  In  dillerent  loealities.  It  forms  immense  massi's  of  conglomerate;, 
and  eontains  layers  of  tabnhir  limestone,  with  iiidislinet  organie  re- 
mains, and  a  few  mammalian  remains,  in  a  fraj^^mentary  condition.  It 
passes  gradually  into  the  l)ed  below.  It  is  most  fidly  develoi)ed  along 
the  U|)[)er  jmrtion  of  Niol)rara  river,  and  in  the  region  around  Fort 
Laramie.  It  is  seen  also  on  W  hite  river,  and  on  (Jrindstone  hills. 
Thickness  from  180  to  200  feet. 

The  Pliocene  consists  of  1st,  dark  gray  or  l)rown  sand,  loose,  in- 
cohiirent,  with  remains  of  mastodon  and  elephant  ;  2il,  sand  and  gravtil. 
incoherent;  tUl,  yellowish-white  grit,  with  many  calcareous,  arenaceous 
concretions  ;  4th,  gray  sand  with  a  greenish  tinge,  which  contains  the 
greater  part  of  the  orgMiic  remains;  r)th,  deep  yellowish-retl 
arenaceous  marl  ;  Oth,  yellowish-gray  grit,  sometimes  quite  ealcareons, 
with  uumerous  layers  of  concretionary'  limestone,  from  two  to  six 
inehes  in  thickness,  Oontaining  fresh  water  and  land  shells,  closely 
allied,  and  perhaps  identical  with  living  species,  which  belong  to  the 
genera,  Succinea,  Limnea,  Pahidinn  and  Helix.  It  contains  also,  much 
wood  of  coniferous  character.  It  covers  a  very  large  area  on  Loup  Fork, 
from  the  mouth  of  North  Branch  to  the  source  of  Loup  Fork,  and 
occurs  in  the  Platte  valley.  It  is  most  fully  developed  on  the  Niobrara 
river,  and  extends  from  the  mouth  of  Turtle  river  three  hundred  miles 
up  the  Niobrara.  It  occurs  on  Bijou  lulls,  and  Medicine  hills,  and  is 
thinly  represented  in  the  valley  of  White  river.  Thickness  from  300 
to  400  feet. 

The  Post-'pliocene  consists  of  yellow,  silicious  marl,  similar  in  its 
character  to  the  loess  of  the  Rhine,  passing  down  into  variegated  indu- 
rated clays,  and  brown  and  yellow  fine  grits.  It  contains  the  remains 
of  extinct  (quadrupeds,  mingled  with  those  identical  with  recent  ones, 
and  a  few  mollusca,  mostly  identical  with  recent  species.  It  is  most 
fully  developed  along  the  Missouri  river,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Nio- 
brara to  St.  Joseph,  and  occurs  in  the  Platte  valley  and  on  the  Loup 
Fork.     Thickness  from  300  to  oOO  feet, 

Prof.  G.  C.  Swallow*  referred  a  formation  made  up  of  clan's  and 

*  I'roc.  Am.  Ass.  Atl.  Sci. 


Mesozot'r.  and  Ca-nnzoic  OeoJoffi/  tind  Pttlttotitulotjy. 


W.\ 


HiiirJs  jiiul  sjiudstoiii',  cxtciKlinj;  ivloiij;'  the  hhifrM,  and  skiitiiij^  tlic 
bottoms,  iVoin  Coinrneico,  in  Scott  ('(Hinty,  Missouii,  wcstwiinl  to 
Stoddmd,  iiiid  tlioiico  south  to  the  chalk  hlull's  in  Arkansas  to  th»' 
Tcitiary  ajic  His  section  sliows  a  thickness  ot'214  foct,  but  nolossils 
were  ol)tain(<(1. 

I'roC.  E.  Einiiions*  dosoril)cd,  from  the  Koccnc  of  Crav»Mi  county. 
Nortli  Carolina,  ('(ii'i-hnrodon  fi'rox,  didnrh  cnyoli/icnsin,  /'JcJiinulmn 
pi>s  fij)p(;ndirtd(tfiin,  /'Jcfihioi'iffimnn  /xo'viin;  tVom  near  X(!vvbern,  Ctir 
churodoii  IfidiKjii/oriit^  Trijiion  cdroli'iiciisls;  from  \Vilmin<;toii,  CVo*- 
chiifodoii  cftissidfiis,  C.  confoi'tidens,  ('hhiris  mitchdli.  Oon/ocfi/iictis 
Hithamjaldtiia,  Lininlifes  ohlont/ns;  and  from  other  places,  Jlemfpn'sfis 
rreniifftfus. 

He  described,  from  tlu;  Miocene;  at  Kli>cabethto\vn,  and  near  Cape 
Fear  river,  Bladen  county.  North  ('arolina,  Polypttichodon  riii/osii.K, 
Ellipfonodun  conipressHu,  .Fii.sus  nqua/is,  A',  haiiellonns,  F,  moiiilijoi'- 
min,  Fdsciolaria  c/e(/aii.s,  F.  u/fernnta,  F.  arnfa,  F.  nodH/osa,  F.  apof- 
rowi,  Cnncellaria  carolinensis,  liuccfntim  7norul(fot')nc,  li.  mnltiHnent- 
urn,  Vohifa  obtusa,  Palitdina  siibfjlohonti;  and  from  the  marl  of  other 
places,  Gdleocerdo  siihcreindits,  PijrnoditH  cnrolinensfs,  Terehra  ne- 
(jlecta,  Didium  ocfoco.sfjifiim,  lUartjuielld  con.sfricfii,  M.  e/erafd,  Pleti- 
rotonid  eleijdits^  P.  jlexKosiini,  P.  tuhercuhifum,  Pifrmaidelhi  reticu- 
lata, Chemnitzla  reticulata,  Uu/ima  subu/ata,  Cerithium  annulatum, 
C.  bico.staturn,  Terebellum  constrictum,  ^<;a/aria  carta,  Litforiaa  line- 
ata,  Delphinulv  quadricontata,  now  Carinorbis  quadricostatns,  Torna' 
Una  cyliiidrictt,  Vaicum  annu/atu<n,  Pecten  priiicepoides,  Charna  stri- 
ata, and  Artemis  transversns. 

Pi'of.  F.  S.  Holmesf  described,  from  the  Post  Pliocene  of  South 
Carolina,  Nodosaria  obtu.sa,  Astra-a  criiasa,  Pectunculus  charlentoii- 
ensis,  Lucina  kiawahensis.  Tapes  (jrus,  Mul  na  milesi,  Mesndesma 
concentricum,  Alira  angulata,  Mya  simplex,  Carolina  tuomeyi,  Fusus 
conns,  I\  Jiliformis,  F,  bullata,  F.  radis,  Volutomitra  wandoensis, 
TarboiiUla  cancellata,  T.  quinquestriata,  T.  lineata,  T.  subulata,  T. 
caroliniana,  T.  acicula,  T.  snbcoronata,  Obeliscus  crenidatus,  Archi- 
fectoiiica  yeiuma,  Anyaria  rrassa,  ami  Adeorhis  nautiliformis. 

Dr.  B.  F.  Shumar(l|;-desciibed,  from  rocks  supposed  to  be  of  Eocene 
age,  at  Port  Orford  and  at  Davis'  Coal  Mine  in  Oregon  Territory,  Lu- 
cina fibrosa,   Corhula  evansana,  Leda,  oregona,  now  N'uculana    ore- 


*  Geo.  Sur.  X.  Carol i nil. 

t  I'ost  I'lioct'iu:  Fossils  of  South  Ciiroliiiii. 

I  Trims.  St.  I<oiiis  Afiul.  Scj.,  vol.  i. 


194 


Tertiary. 


'^m 


A. 


i%U. 


f/ona,  L.  ujilUtmettenHls,  now  JV.  vnUamettensis;  and  from  gray,  fine- 
<,n'Jiinocl  sandstone,  at  the  mouth  of  Coose  Bay,  Peaten   joosensi),  and 
Venns  securis. 

Dr.  Lcidy*  described,  fronj  the  Pliocene  of  the  Niobrara  river,  Ne- 
braska, Mastodon  mirijicus.  J'rocameliis  ^/faeili.s,  P.  robimtus,  P.  ocri- 
de'ifalfs,  Cani's  fuii/deni,  C.  saivnn,  C.  femerariiis,  C.  vofer,  Feli.s  in- 
trej>idiiN^  now  Pscadivhirus  infrcp/'duN,  Aelui'odon ferox,  Hysfrix  t'en- 
iistii,s\  Castor  tortus,  C'ervuswui'reni,  Menalorneryj'  uiobrarensis,  3fery- 
chyi's  ciegatis,  M.  major,  M.  medhis,  Jlypohippus  afffnis,  Parahippus 
coynatns^  Eqitus  excelsns,  E.fratenius,  Protohlppns  perditas^  Mery- 
chippiis  mimbilis,  lihinoceros  crassus,  Endephas  hnperator,  and  from 
tlie  red  j^rit  bed  of  Niobrara,  near  Fort  Laramie  (Miocene),  Meryco- 
choeriis  proprius. 

Ill  18r)0,  James  Kichardsonf  made  a  geological  examination  of  the 
r«jisi)e  peninsula,  and  observed  two  terraces  in  tho  drift  to  the  west  of 
Trois  Pistoles  river,  at  loO  and  300  feet,  resi)ectively,  above  the  sea, 
and  another  at  the  month  of  the  iMa«anne.  at  the  height  of  50  feet. 
Stratifuid  clay  occurs  at  the  head  of  lake  ^latapedia,  480  feet  above  the 
sea  and  near  the  outlet  at  the  height  of  about  530  feet.  iNIarine  testacoa 
occur  in  the  terrace  on  the  east  side  of  the  Matanne  river  at  the  height 
of  50  feet  above  the  sea;  about  two  miles  west  of  the  ^fetis  river,  at 
the  height  of  130  feet,  and  eight  miles  up  tlie  3Ietis  river,  at  245  feet 
above  the  sea.  At  the  St.  Anne  river  there  are  five  or  six  terraces  in 
a  heiffht  of  25  feet,  aboundinu'  in  fragments  of  marine  shells.  Grooves 
and  scratches  were  observed  a  half  mile  below  Trois  Pistoles  church, 
GO  feet  above  the  sea,  bearing  S.  32  deg.  E.,  and  on  the  Kempt  road, 
two  miles  from  Lake  Matapedia,  G30  feet  above  the  sea,  and  bearing  S. 
80  deg.  P:. 

W.  E.  Logan;);  explored  the  river  Rouge,  a  branch  of  the  Ottawa,  to 
the  Iroquois  Chute,  about  fift}' miles  from  the  mouth.  He  found  an 
nndistnrbed  deposit  of  clay  on  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  on  the  fourth 
i-ange  of  Grenville,  280  feet  above  Lake  St.  Peter,  In  the  rear  of  Gren- 
ville  and  front  of  Ilanington,  not  far  east  of  the  Rouge,  there  spreads 
out  a  flat  surface  of  several  hundred  acres  in  extent,  \vh'ch  is  under- 
iaid  by  clay,  and  has  a  height  of  about  500  feet  above  Lake  St.  Petei*. 
The  plain  of  the  three  mountains  has  an  elevation  above  the  ordinary 
summer  level  of  the  river,  of  about  30  teet,  and  above  Lake  St.  Peter  of 


*  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sei.,  vol.  x. 

t  Kep.  of  I'logr.  Geo.  Sur.  of  Canada. 

X  Geo.  Sur.  of  Canada,  Ifep.  of  rrojness. 


Me.sozoic  and  C(viwzoic  Geology  and  Palo>ontolo<jy. 


195 


about  585  t'cct.  It  consists,  in  general,  of  sand  or  fine  i>  ravel  at  the  top, 
with  elay  interst  rati  tied  toward  the  lower  part,  but  the  sand  greatly 
predominates.  Tlie  surface  of  the  rocks  in  the  valley  wherever  ex- 
amined were  found  to  be  grooved  and  siriated.  The  courses  of  the 
grooves  vary  from  S.  ;J0  deg.  E.  to  S.  25  deg.  W.,  ami  accord  in  a  gen- 
eral way,  with  the  direction  of  the  valley.  The  limits  of  the  valley 
evidently  guided  the  direction  of  the  moving  masses  which  prod.uced 
the  striie, 

Prof.  Leo  Les(piereux*  described,  from  the  Pliocene  iieai-  Sommer- 
ville,  Fayette  countv,  Tennessee,  Salix  densinervin,  Qvercus  saffordi, 
Andromeda  dnhiii,  and  JiJUear/nus  uKeqi'a/ia'. 

In  1860,  Prof.  E.  W.  Ililgardf  divided  the  Tertiary  of  Mississippi 
in  ascending  order  into,  1st,  The  Northern  Lignitic  Group;  2d,  The 
Claiborne  Group;  3d,  The  Jackson  (iroup;  ith,  the  Vicksbiirg  Group; 
5th,  The  Grand  Gulf  Group. 

The  Northern  Lignitic  Grouj)  occupies  the  central  p:irt  of  Northern 
Mississippi,  and  though  generall3'  covered  by  later  deposits  it  out- 
croi)s  at  numerous  places  and  is  found  at  ..11  deep  borings.  It  consists 
of  estuary  deposits  of  sandstone,  with  marine  shells;  gray  clays  and 
sands,  and  dark  brown  and  yel'ow  clays  and  sands  with  lignite. 
Estimated  thickness,  including  the  Claiboi  iie  Group,  425  feet. 

The  Claiborne  Group  is  found  in  the  central  part  of  the  northern 
half  of  the  State,  in  Holmes,  Atahi,  Carroll  and  Choctaw  counties,  and 
in  the  western  part  of  the  State  in  Clarke,  Lauderdale,  Newton  and 
Scott  counties.  It  consists  of  blue  and  white  marls,  the  latter  alway-> 
sandy  and  often  indurate,  and  sandstones  and  claystones  with  some- 
times lignitic  clays  an<i  sands. 

The  Jackson  Group  forms  a  band  across  the  central  part  of  the  State 
through  Wayne,  Clarke,  Jasper,  Newton,  Scott,  Madison  and  Yazoo 
counties.  It  consists  of  white  (often  indurate)  and  blue  luiirls,  highly 
fossil iferous.     Estimated  thickness,  80  feet. 

The  Vicksburg  Group  is  the  highest  of  tlm  marine  lOocene,  and  the 
onlv  one  which  readies  the  Mississippi  river.  It  o('cu[)ics  a  nai-row 
belt  of  nearly  uniform  width,  south  of  the  Jackson  Gioup,  and  extend- 
ing across  the  State  from  Vicksburg  to  the  Alabama  lino,  and  thence 
to  the  Tomi)igboo  river,  where  it  forms  the  bluff  at  St.  Stephens.  It 
consists  of  crystalline  limestones  and  i)lue  marls  with  ferruginous 
strata.     It  is  the  only  one  of  the  marine  stages  of  the  Eocene  which 


m 


*  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  &  Arts,  2«1  ser.,  vol.  xxvii. 
i  Geo.  of  -Misj.s. 


196 


Tertiary. 


\  ri 


exhibits  ciystalliue  limestones.  It  is  bighly  fossil iferoiis.  Estimated 
thickness,  including  the  lignite  at  its  base,  112  feet. 

The  Grand  Gulf  Group  covers  an  immense  extent  of  country  south 
of  the  Vicksburg  Group,  and  is  composed  essentiallv  of  da^'s  and 
sandstones,  the  latter  generally  rather  aluminous  and  soft,  an  '  of 
wliite-gra}' and  yellowisli-gray  tints;  t)ie  sand  being  very  siiarp.  It 
takes  Its  name  from  the  bluff  at  Grand  Gulf  on  tlie  Mississippi  river, 
where  it  is  well  exposed.  It  is  overlaid  near  the  coast,  by  strata  of 
Pliocene  and  Post-pliocene  age.     Estimated  thickness,  15^  feet. 

Prof  F.  S.  Holmes*  made  three  vertical  sections  of  the  Post-pliocene 
strata  of  South  Carolina  in  descending  order  as  follows: 

1.  The  marine  bed  of  the  Wadmalur,  consisting  of  yellow  sand,  15 
feet;  ferruginous  sand  with  casts  of  shells,  2  feet;  red  clay,  2  feet;  and 
gra^' sand  and  mud  with  comminuted  shells  and  fossils  in  line  preser- 
vation, 3.^  feet. 

2.  The  Ashley  river  beds,  consisting  of  3'ellow  sands  with  bands  of 
ferruginous  clay,  4  feet,  and  blue  mud  resting  on  the  white  Eocene 
marl,  1  foot. 

^5.  The  Goose  creek  beds,  consisting  of  yellow  i^mnd,  12  feet;  blue 
mud,  2  feet;  ferruginous  sand  containing  bones,  :<  inches;  yellow  sand, 
3  feet;  and  Pliocene  marl  resting  on  the  Eocene  white  marl,  12  feet. 

The  fossil  bones  obtained  from  these  strata  are  often  in  a  fine  state 
of  preservation,  especially  those  taken  from  the  blue  mud,  which  are 
generally  petrified;  those  fi'om  the  sands  are  likevvisa  well  preserved, 
but  in  the  peaty  or  upper  beds  they  are  not  so  petrified,  retain  all  their 
gelatin  and  appear  to  decompose  rapidly.  They  consist  of  the  bones 
of  horses,  hogs,  dogs,  rabbits,  beavers,  the  tapir,  and  other  mammalian 
remains. 

T,  A.  Conradf  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  Alabama  and  Missis- 
sippi, Exilia  peryracilis,  VolutiUthes  Umopsis,  V.  ruaatus,  Athleta 
ieiodermd,  Simpidnm  showwalteri,  S.  antopsis,  S.  exf.Iis,  Galeodui  trl- 
carinata,  Cithara  nereidis,  Mnrex  morulas,  PseudoUva  'tnbercuh'fera, 
Scala  linfea,  S.  octolineata,  S.  staminea,  Actwonina  subvaricata, 
Toi'natelkva  bellci.  Cerithioderma  prima,  3IazzaUna  pjjrula,  Leda 
bella,  now  Nuculana  bella,  L,'  eborea,  now  N.  eborea,  Axiniva  belli- 
nculpta,  Diplodonta  ast.artiformis,  D.  deltoidea,  Crenella  latifrons; 
from  Texas,  PseudoHva  carinata,  P.  fusiformis,  P.  linosa,  P.  per- 
spectiva,  and  Monoptjigma  crassiplica. 


*  I'loc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  ii.,  nml  in  I'ost-pliocene  Foss.  S.  C'tuol'iia. 
f  .lour.   Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  2d  ser.,  vol.  iv. 


m 


Mcsozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geology  and  Palceontology. 


197 


Wm.  M.  Gabb  described,  from  the  Eocene  at  Wheelock,  jind  in  Cald- 
well county,  Texas,  Belosepla  ungiila,  Odontopoli/s  compsorliytis, 
Fusits  mortoniopsis,  Neptunea  enterogramma,  Turris  moorei,  T.  kel- 
loggi,  now  Surcula  kelloggi,  T.  nodocarinata,  now  Svrcuhi  nodocari- 
nata,  T.  retifera,  T.  texatta,  Encheilodon  reficulafinn,  ScohinelJa  crassi- 
plicata,  S.  loivipUcata,  Disfortio  sepfemdenfafa,  Phos  fexanus,  Agaro- 
nia  punGfuliferd,  now  OlicKia  punctAilifera,  Fasciohtria  j^olita^  F. 
moorei\  now  Cordieva  moorei,  Cymhiola  fexana,  3Iifrn  ex  His,  M. 
mooreana,  now  Lapparia  mooreana,  Ernfo  semenoides,  now  Mar- 
ginella  semenoides,  Net^crita  arata,  Lunatia  moorei,  Architecfonicn 
meekana,  A.  texana,  A.  vespertina,  Spirorhis  leptosfoma,  Turritella 
nasnta,  Eidima  cxilis,  F.  tenna,  Dentidium  minitfisfrintum,  Difrvpit 
auhcoarcfata.  now  Gadus  suhconrctattis.  Bulla  kelloggi,  Volvvlc 
conradana,  V.  minutissima,  Ilelcion  Icanns,  Corbtda  fexana,  Telliiia 
mooreana,  Leda  compsa,  now  yxcnlana  compsa,  H^oefia  piilcJira. 
Crassafella  antestriata.  Anomia  aphippioides;  Serpdla  texmta;  from 
Alabama,  Cirsotrema  megaptera,  Leiorfiinus  crassilabris,  Acinaia 
intercostnfa ,  and  Pecten  spillmani. 

He  described,  from  the  Miocene,  near  Shiloli,  New  Jersc}-,  Canfharus 
cuynberldndana,  Fasciolnria  ivoodi,^Natioa  hemicvypta,  Mercenaria 
cancellata,  and  from  Maurice  river.  New  Jerse}',  Osfrea  inavriceiisis. 

Gabb  and  Horn  described,  from  the  P^ocene,  in  Caldwell  county. 
Texas,  Flabellum  pachyphylhim  and  Trochosmilia  mortoni. 

Prof.  Leo  Lcsquereux*  described,  from  the  lower  Eocene  or  lignitic 
Tertiary  of  Tennessee  and  Mississippi,  3fagnolia  hilgardana  and 
Rhnmnus  marginatus. 

Meek  and  Haydenf  described,  from  the  Miocene  of  the  Bad  Lands 
of  Wliite  river,  Planorbis  leidyi  and  P.  vetulus. 

Prof.  J.  VY.  Dawson;|;  described,  from  the  Pliocene  of  Labrador,  the 
foraminifer,  Nonionina  labradorica. 

In  1861,  Prof.  C.  H.  Hitchcockjj  said  that  there  is  not  a  mountain  in 
Maine,  fragments  of  which  will  not  be  found  scattered  over  the  coun- 
try to  the  south  or  southeast.  The  granite  of  the  Katahdin  region  is 
scattered  over  the  southern  part  of  Penobscot  county,  and  the  rocks  of 
Mt.  Abraham  and  Mt.  Blue  mav  be  recognized  among  the  bowlders  in 
Kennebec  county.     One  of  the  effects  of  the  drift  action  is  the  smooth - 


■'•'  Goo.  of  Ark.,  vol.  ii. 
t  Proc.  Aciul.  Nat.  Sei. 

C  n.  Niit.  nnd  Geo.,  vol.  v. 
f.  Hep.  (joo.  Maine. 


198 


Tertiary . 


N, 


ing,  rounding,  scratching- and  furrowing  of  the  lodges  over  which  tlu> 
drift  materials  have  passed,  and  unless  these  ledges  have  been  decom- 
posed upon  their  surfaces,  they  are  covered  with  scratches  or  striie, 
usually  parallel  to  one  another,  and  indicating  the  course  of  the  drift 
agency.  Ledges  of  talcose  and  argillaceous  rocks  preserve  these  mark- 
ings the  most  distincth'.  Were  the  rocks  of  Maine  laid  bare,  fully  half 
the  surface  would  show  these  marks  of  smoothing. 

The  course  of  the  strijie  in  Maine  vary  from  north  70  dog.  west  to 
north  80  deg.  east. 

At  the  Lubec  lead  mines,  a  series  of  striie  were  observed  upon  the 
side  of  a  perpendicular  wall,  foUovving  the  course  of  the  wall  around  a 
corner.  The  course  of  the  strioe  ultimately  varied  at  right  angles  from 
their  original  directions.  At  several  places  at  the  sea  shore  the  stria; 
have  been  noticed  below  high  water  mark,  and  others  were  seen  to  run 
under  the  ocean  at  low-water  mark.  The  course  of  the  strife  upon  the 
lakes  north  of  the  Katahdin  mountains  have  more  of  an  easterly  course 
than  those  to  the  east  and  south  of  the  same  mountains.  It  looks  as 
if  the  mountains  formed  an  obstruction  around  which  the  striating 
agency  operated,  in  preference  to  climbing  the  elevation.  It  is  a  curious 
fact,  in  the  same  connection,  that. the  strire  are  wanting  on  the  sum- 
mit of  Katahdin.  It  ajjpears  also  that  there  was  another  deflection  of 
the  course  of  the  strisx;  in  the  valley  of  Sandy  river.  Mt.  Abraham 
may  have  arrested  the  drift  current  on  the  north  and  iiirned  it  into 
Sandy  river  valley  on  the  west,  from  which  deflection  it  struck  against 
the  Saddleback  mountain  range,  continued  to  Mount  Blue,  and  was 
then  directed  toward  French's  Mountain  in  Farmington. 

Drift  strije  are  never  found  upon  the  south  side  of  mountains,  unless 
for  a  short  distance,  where  the  slope  is  very  small.  It  is  common  to 
see  different  courses  of  stria?  intersecting  one  another,  as  on  the  south 
side  of  Chamberlin  lake,  where  strisB  north  70  deg.  west  and  north  50 
deg.  west  intersect,  and  north  17  deg.  west  and  north  (>7  deg.  west  in- 
tersect. 

The  only  examples  of  glacial  markings  discovered,  in  Maine,  are  on 
the  St.  .lohn  river,  in  its  upi)er  portion.  Above  the  Lake  of  the  Seven 
Islands,  on  this  rivei',  there  are  no  glacial  markings,  unless  the 
scratches  upon  the  pavement  of  bowlders  .ire  to  be  referred  to  them. 
The  bed  of  the  river  is  full  of  stones,  and  upon  the  banks  below  high- 
water  mark  they  are  as  (irmly  set  as  paving  stones  in  the  streets  of  a 
city.  The  scratches  are  not  as  constant  and  distinct  as  those  of  the 
glacier  below,  and  may  pos;  ibly  have  been  formed  by  ice  freshets  in 


Mcsozoir.  and  Caenozoic  GeoJopi/  find   PidmontoJag^i. 


ion 


high 

,  of  a 

of  the 

lets  iu 


the  spring  of  the  yojir.  Dcsf-cMidiuu  the  river  to  No.  14  we  lind  a,  h'dge 
whieh  has  been  stniek  h\  a  foree  (leseeuding  the  river,  as  tiiestoss  and 
lee  sides  plainly  show.  The  coarse  of  the  striiB  is  north  0.')  deg.  west, 
the  stoss  side  heing  on  tlie  southeast.  A  similar  example  occurs  neai' 
the  juoiith  of  Hlack  rivei',  where  tiie  course  of  the  stria;  is  toward  noith 
<H)  (leg.  west.  The  country  above  lilack  river  being  (jnite  level,  is  not 
so  well  adapted  for  the  existence  of  a  glacier  as  the  I'egion  below 
where  high  mountains  crowd  the  liver  on  both  sides.  At  the  nioutli 
of  Little  IMack  I'iver  the  uppt-r  side  ol"  the  ledges  is  uniformly  tlie 
struck  side.  Some  of  the  ledg<'s  are  covered  with  lioth  drift  and 
glacial  strijv,  the  former  <'oming  from  north  GO  {\q^^.  west,  and  the 
latter  running  down  the  river  northeasterly.  A  mile  al)ove  the 
month  of  the  St.  Francis  river,  the  glacial  stria'  run  down  the 
river  with  the  direction  noith  17  deg.  cast.  Near  the  village  of  St. 
Fi'ancis  tlu;  two  sets  of  stria'  ap[)ear  again,  the  drii't  with  llie  di- 
rections of  nortii  (50  deg.  west,  and  north  20  (\Q[f.  west,  and  the  glaeial 
with  the  direction  of  north  10  deg.  east.  This  is  the  course  of  the 
river  around  a  curve.  The  former  are  here  the  most  pronunent.  In 
the  township  l)elow  Fort  Kent,  stria'  appear  rnnniiig  nortli  WO  deg.  west. 
One  of  the  llnest  exposures  of  the  glacial  stria'  is  in  Dionne,  wheie  the 
river  makes  a  great  l)end  and  pursues  a  northerly  course.  The  stria' 
change  witl.  the  river  and  run  north  20  ^\('<x,.  west,  or  directly  opposite 
to  the  norm.  \  course  of  the  drift  in  tiie  vieinitv,  the  for(;e  having  none 
northerly  inst.:ad  of  southerly.  No  glacial  markings  wereobsei'vcd  be- 
low this,  in  faet  tlie  glacial  and  drift  markings  coidd  not  be  distin- 
guished from  each  c»thev  below  the  ^Fadawaska  settlements.  'J'he  evi- 
dence for  an  ancient,  glacier  is  not  so  strong  on  the  St.  John  river  as 
in  the  western  part  of  New  England.  Some  might  contend  th.it  the 
immense  iee  freshets  in  the  spring  would  be  sullieient  to  expl;  in  all 
the  phenomena.  On  the  other  hand,  the  objection  to  glaciers  in  noith- 
<'rn  Maine  would  be  less  than  in  Massachusetts,  on  account  of  the 
colder  climate. 

An  unstratified  mass  of  a  stiff,  dark,  bluish  elay,  containing  rounded 
and  striated  bowlders,  and  called  bowlder  clay,  is  found  on  the  preeij)- 
itous  banks  of  rapid  streams  in  narrow  valleys.  It  underlies  the  finer 
sands  and  gravels  of  later  periods,  and  always  rests  directly  upon  the 
solid  rocks. 

^lodified  drift  occurs,  in  ^Nlaine,  in  the  form  of  moraine  terraces, 
horsebacks,  sea  beaches,  sea  bottoms,  marine  clays  and  tenaces.  ^Mo- 
raine  terraces  are  generally  accumulations  of  gravel,  bowlders  and  sand, 


.ii.f 


200 


TerHury. 


'^•1 


often  tiri'tiiijTcd  in  lienps  and  hollows,  or  conical  and  irrcgnlai'  eleva- 
tions with  corresponding dc[)ressions.  A  class  ot'allnvial  ridges  fonnd 
in  great  abnndunce  in  jNfaine  are  called  liorHebacks.  Sea  beaches  and 
sea  bottoms  are  fonnd  150  feet  higher  than  the  ocean  level,  and  con- 
taining littoral  shells.  Fossiliferoiis  marine  clays  form  almost  a  con 
tinuons  belt,  extending  up  tlu;  rivers  to  abont  this  lieight  above  the 
ocean.  Alluvial  terraces  ar(t  those  banks  of  h)()se  materials,  generally 
unconsolidated,  which  skirt  the  sides  of  the  valleys  about  rivers,  ponds, 
and  lakes,  and  rise  above  one  another  like  the  seats  of  an  amphithea- 
ter. 

Prof.  Edward  Hitchcock*  collected  about  300  measurements  of  the 
drift  striffi  found  in  the  Stnto  of  Vermont.  The  course  varied  from 
north  70  (leg.  east  to  north  80  deg.  west.  It  seems  to  iiave  been  rare 
to  lind  the  strlic,  at  any  two  points,  exactly  agreeing  in  direction, 
though  he  divided  tiie  predominant  coui'ses  into  three  divisions,  vi/: 
1.  From  tlu!  northwest.  2.  From  tlie  northeast.  3.  From  the  north. 
The  striae  differ  in  size  from  the  finest  soatch  visible,  up  to  a  furrow  a 
foot  deep. 

Prof  J.  W.  Dawsonf  described  the  Posi-pliocene  deposits  at  Murray 
bay,  on  the  St.  Lawrence  riyer,  00  miles  below  Quebec,  where  they  con- 
sist of  the  Leda  clay  and  Saxicava  sand.  There  are  several  terraces 
at  this  place,  varying  from  30  to  i;)2  feet  above  the  sea  level,  but  the 
highest  true  shore-mark  observed,  is  a  narrow  beach  of  rounded  pebbles 
at  the  height  of  320  feet.  This  beach  appears  to  become  a  wide  terrace 
further  to  the  north,  and  also  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  bay.  It  pro- 
bably corresponds  with  the  highest  terrace  observi'd  by  Sir  W.  E.  Lo- 
gan, at  Bay  St.  Paul,  and  estimated  by  him  at  the  height  of  3G0  feet. 
The  two  pi'incipal  terraces  at  ^Eurray  bay  correspond  nearly  with  two 
of  the  principal  shore-levels  :it  Montreal  and  in  various  parts  of  Cana- 
da, where  tvvo  lines  of  old  sea  l)eachcs  occur  at  about  100  to  150  feet. 
and  300  to  350  feet  above  the  sea,  though  there  are  others  at  different 
levels. 

Dr.  F.  V.  Ilayden;];  sketched  the  geology  of  the  country  about  the 
headwaters  of  the  ^lissonri  and  Yellow  Stone,  and  said  that  through- 
out the  \\'ind  river  valley  there  is  a  series  of  beds  of  great  thick- 
ness intermediate  in  tlieir  character  between  the  true  lignite  beds 
and  the  White  river  Tertiary  deposits.     They  extend    from    Willow 


*  Rop.  on  the  (}o().  of  Vermont,  vol.  i. 

+  Can.  Nat.  and  Geol.,  vol.  vi. 

X  Am.  Jour.  Sci,  and  Arts.  2d  ser.,  vol.  xxxi. 


Mcsozoic  nrnJ  Cicnozofc  Geology  cnul  rnla ontology.         201 

Spriiii^s  oil  the  Noitli  I'latto  westward  towtinl  tho  Sweet  Water  moun- 
tains, and  near  the  divide  between  the  North  IMatte  and  Wind  river 
tliey  rea(di  a  thielvness  of'lOO  feet.  From  tliis  divide  tiiioughont  the 
Wind  livei"  valley  tiiey  oe(_M4)y  •'''^'  {greater  portion  of  the  country,  and 
thounh  ineliniui;  in  the  same  direetion  witli  tin;  older  strata  the  bedss 
do  not  di[)  more  than  from  1  to  u  deg'.  They  dilfer  from  the  otlier  de- 
posits in  th(!  great  predominance  of  arenaceous  sediments,  and  in  tlie 
ahseiu'e  of  vegctaVtle  remaius,  but  they  contain  fraguu'nts  of  turtles 
and  nuuierous  IVesh  water  and  land  shells.  Tlie  entire  thickness  of 
tlieso  deposits  is  estimated  at  from  1,500  to  2,000  feet. 

The  White  River  Tertiary  Ix'ds  extend  southward  along-  the  Laramie 
mountains  to  Willow  Springs,  and  up  the  North  Platte  to  liox  Elder 
<'reel<,  and  beyond  in  small  outliers,  showing  that  much  lias  been  re- 
moved by  erosion.  From  the  source  of  Jlox  Klder  creek,  they  extend 
to  tlie  head  of  Bates  Foi'k,  and  wi'stward  to  the  Medicine  IJow 
mountains.  Tiu'se  beds  for  llu;  most  part,  hold  a  horizontal  j^ositiou, 
wiiile  tliose  of  the  lignite  age  are  mucli  disturbed;  moreove!',  their 
position  sliows  tliat  tiujy  are  of  much  more  recent  origin.  The  Wliite 
river  Tertiary  deposits  are  followetl  by  the  Wliite  river  bone  beds, 
wliich  pass  up  into  tlio  Pliocene  of  Niolirara  b}'  a  slight  physical 
brciik,  and  tiie  latter  arc  lost  in  tlie  yellow  marl  or  Lacs  deposits. 

iMeek  and  llMyden*  uuide  a  vertical  section  of  tlie  Tertiaiy  rocks 
of  Nebraska,  in  ascending  order  as  follows  : 

1.  Wind  river  deposits,  consisting  of  light  gray  and  ash-colored 
sandstones,  with  more  or  less  argillaceous  layers.  Thickness  from 
1,500  to  2,000  feet.  Found  in  the  Wind  river  valley  and  west  of  the 
Wind  Piver  mountains. 

2.  Tiie  Wliite  Piver  Group,  consisting  of  white  and  light  drab 
clays,  with  some  beds  of  sandstone  and  local  layers  of  limestone. 
Thickness  1,000  feet  or  more.  Found  on  the  Pad  Lands  of  White 
river  ;  under  the  Loup  river  beds,  on  Niobrara,  and  across  the  country 
to  the  Platte,     Age  of  the  Miocene. 

3.  Loup  river  beds,  consisting  of  fine  loose  sand,  with  some  layers  of 
limostone.  Thickness,  :U)0  to  400  feet.  Found  on  Loup  fork  of  Platte 
river,  and  extending  north  to  the  Niobrara  river,  and  south  an  un- 
known distance.     Age  of  the  Pliocene. 

Tlie\'  described  from  the  Wind  River  Group,  in  the  Wind  river 
valley.  Helix  vete7'n((,  and  //.  spatiosa^  now  JIacrocych's  spatiosa. 


*  Proe.  Acad.  Nut.  Sci.,  vol.  xii 


202 


TerUari). 


'si 


1 


\ 


%: 


yi 


W.  ."M.  CJnhb*  •Icscribcd.  tVoin  the  Kdccnc  nt  ( 'liiibonio,  AlMl)!irii:i, 
Ph'>8  bclli/ii'dfus;  from  VicUsbmu',  'relliua  nnryfernui ;  from  ;i  brown, 
highly  ferruginous  s!in(lstonoiitC:i(l(lo  Teiik,  Texas,  Mcretrix  yoakiuin\ 
Perna  tcxdna ;  from  Houston  county.  Toxas,  Profocardin  (/(tmbrinn : 
and  from  Soutli  Carolina,  Oslrca  niorf'mi. 

He  doscrilxMl,  fi'om  tlie  Mioeene  of  \'irginia,  VoUita  sinnosn;  from 
Santa  l?arbara,  California,  Tnrhonilhi  tis/xira,  now  BltHinr.  (isperinn. 
Modi'Jin  sf.i'/fif(i,  Uoi'dhti'ln  niif).iiii((,  Spheiiid  bil/Vfit",  Venus  rhj/tionu'n, 
Cardifjt  inoH/lirosta,  and  MoiTisia  /lonii. 

Prof.  Leo.  Losquereuxf  des(!ril)e(l,  from  the  Pliocene  beds  at  Brandon, 
Vei'mont,  (UirpoliHies  brandotiniins,  (',  hrfnidonanus,  vav.  elonijahis,  ('. 
hrandonanus,  var.  obtvsiis,  ('.  Jiss/'lis,  C.  tire y (inns.  C.  irregnlaris, 
Cdvyn  nennonfjina,  C.  verrntujsa,  FiKjns  liiti'.hcocki,.  Apeibopnis  f/au- 
dfni,  A.  heeri,  ArustoJocftia  cnrvafu,  A .  ohscnrn,  A.  (imint/cn.sis,  Supin- 
dns  funcficrninfi,  Ciirpolithes  bnrsdcforniLs,  Cinnanwinnni  novaidnyUa', 
Illicium  liijnif.nm,  Drnpa  rhnbdosperma,  jYi/sun  compldnatfi,  iV.  lorviy- 
ata,  and  J^.  microciirpa. 

In  18H2,  Gal)b  and  Horn);  described,  from  the  Eocene,  near  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina,  Est-hara  fcxtc,  Itepfescliarelld  cdrolinensis  ;  from 
Claiborne.  Alabama,  Enchard  ovalis,  Seniieschdra  fnbnldfd,   Cellcpora 
cycloi'is,  ('.  hiorndfd,  J'Jftchdrelld  inicropord  :   from  Vicksl)urg,  Missis 
sippi,  lieptocel/epovd rid  yhnueratd. 

They  described,  from  the  Miocene  of  St.  JMary's  riv(>r,  Maryland, 
Eschdva  frdy ilisshiKt  ;  from  Petersburg,  Va.,  Enndlipord  qnadranyu- 
lan's;  from  the  ^liocenr,  of  New  Jersey,  deUepora  iirceo/dtd,  Mem- 
branip(}ra  se.vpinictdfM,  llept.ojiustrelld  tnbidata  :  from  Santa  Barbara, 
California,  Seinitubiyei'd  tnba,  E)itdlophor(t  punctnlafd,  Ce/lepora 
cdliforriensis,  C.  belleropl/on,  lieptesahdrelld  Iieernidiini,  P.  pUind, 
Phklolopoi'd  Idbiatd,  Peptoporina  en.sfonidta,  Repteschdrellina  dis- 
pnrilis^U.  heermdnni,  P.  covnfitd,  Siphonelhi  vmlflpord,  Jfcmbrdnipora 
calif ornicn,  Vrisind  serratd^  and  Lirhenopord  cdli.fornird. 

T.  A.  Conrad§  described,  from  the  Miocene  of  Virginia,  Surcula 
enyoudtd,  S.  nodnliferd,  Drillia  impretisd,  D.  distdns,  D.  aratd,  D. 
be/la,  D.  eburned,  Jldiiye/id  viryiniana,  Pleiorytis  ovdto.,  Pnsycon  curi- 
ndtinti,  B.  Jflosnni,  l^riNd  scdhiris,  now  Bncrinnm  scaldre,  Astyris  re- 
ticulata, Dactylus  eburens,  now    Oliva    eborea,    Leiotrochus    distans, 


*  I'rih-.  .\c;i(l.  Nut.  Sci.,  vol.  xii  . 

-f  Gcol    W'l'inoiit,  vol.  ii. 

t  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  i<\  .ser.,  vol.  v. 

•^  Prof.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  xiii. 


Menozoi'c  and  dcnuozot'c  Geohxji)  and  Pahvonfolixji/. 


203 


I'ecteii  J)'(i/cj')iiis,  liitsycon  fi'i/oiu's,  MeUimpnx  /onr/idciis,  .}f)icfr<i  me- 
diah's,  A.sfarfc.  helJn,  A  r/i'r/inicti,  Lii'(>i>hi>r(i  nthh-Jn,  DiohC  densafd, 
;iii(l  D.  I'hujiniiina  ;  IVoin  Calvort  dills,  iuid  St.  Mary's  comity.  Mary- 
hiiul,  Siirriihi  ri((/af.fi,  IhtUiopsix  mnnjhnidicn,  B.  tH-afd,  .Ishjris  '(tin- 
mvnin,  A.  (ivara,  var.  f/rdnii/f/erd,  and  JJimijcoii  (t/vciifinii  :  IVoni  South 
Caroiina.  A  nonifilocfirdia  tn'tiintinarifi ;  tVoni  North  (.'aroliiia,  Den- 
tiilhnii  c((ro/inciisc,  Pccten  edifccomettsis^  Xoe.thi  tuo'oJinensis,  Ducfi/l- 
i(s  caroliiiens/'f),  now  01  Ira  lutvolinensis,  and  SiHqnurla  cdrolineiisis; 
tVoin  Ciiinborland  t'ounty,  New  Jersey,  Tiiri'ifclhi  (vqiilstriafa,  T.  cinii- 
herhiiidld.  SdxicdVd,  vii/d'formis,  f'drdifamerd  dfn/nafd,  aiul  Astdvtc 
(listdiis-;  from  California,  Lyropecfen  crass  tea  rdo  ;  and  from  tlio 
Koi-eno,  at  P^ntcrprisc,  Clark  county,  ^Ilssissippi,  Crds-sdfelhi  proOncta. 

Wm.  Stimpson  described,  IVom  the  I'ost-plioeene  at  CapoIIoix',  on  the 
southeast  side  of  Hudson's  T)ay.  lUu'dinm  dcirsoiu'. 

Along  Lake  Temiseamang,  *  t'he  Ottawa  river  and  Riviere  Houge. 
north  of  the  Ottawa,  the  furrows  conform  in  a  gvneral  way  to  tiie  di- 
rections of  the  river- valleys,  the  limits  of  which  appear  to  have  guided 
the  moving  masses  which  produced  the  grooves.  Tlu;  direction  of  the 
grooves  at  a  single  locality  is  not  onl\'  not  uniform,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
they  frequently  cross  each  other.  ^Measurements  taken  at  145  differ- 
ent places  in  Canada  show  that  there  is  no  uniformity  in  the  directtion 
of  the  striic,  but  as  in  these  cases  they  vary  from  S.  80°  E.  to  S.  70°  W. 

Bowlders  are  found  in  great  abundiince  in  nuiny  places,  especially  in 
the  valleys,  wiiere  the  bowlder  formation  has  been  extensively  denuded 
by  the  action  of  the  water,  and  its  lighter  materials  swept  away.  On 
elevations,  they  are  often  seen  resting  upon  the  unstratilied  drift,  Avhicli, 
in  the  adjacent  depressions  of  the  surface,  is  covered  over  by  strati- 
lied  sand  and  clay.  They  appear,  in  most  instances,  to  have  traveled 
southward,  V)ut  there  are  exceptions  to  this  general  rule.  Thus  in  the 
county  of  Rimonski,  in  the  valley  of  the  Neigette  river,  there  are  lai'ge 
bowlders  of  limestone,  one  of  them  40  feet  in  diameter,  belonging  to  the 
Gaspe  series,  which  have  been  moved  several  miles  northward  or  north- 
eastward. Farther  down  the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  l)!ocks  of 
trachytic  granite  have  been  carried  northeastward  from  the  Table- 
topped  mountain  down  the  valley  of  the  ^Ligdalen.  There  arc;  also 
instances  of  the  northward  trans[)ortaftion  of  bowlders  in  Nova  Scotia. 

The  valleys  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Richelieu,  in  Canada  East, 
and  a  considerable  portion  of  tin;  region  between  the  St.  Lawrence  and 


T'!|-   ( 


*  Geo.  ofCauada,  1803, 


204 


Ternary. 


..  t-, 


llic  Ottiiw.'t,  to  the  cnst  of  the  iiicridiun  of  Kiii,i>stoii,  aro  occupied  li\ 
sU'Mtilicd  clays,  wliicli,  iinliUi^  those  of  western  Caiiathi,  contain 
alxindatice  oi' marine  shells,  lor  tin;  most  |)art  identical  with  species 
now  livinji'  in  the  lower  St.  Lawrence  and  the  yiiH'.  The  clays  are  in 
many  cases  overlaid  by  sands,  occasionally  interstratilicd  with  clay, 
which  also  contain  marine  remains.  The  two  are  reyardefl  as  (orminy 
parts  of  one  formation,  and  as  coi'res|)ondin<^"  to  the  upper  and  lower 
divisions  of  the  (Jhamplain  clay  o  N'ermont.  The  lower  divi.sicni  is 
calleil  the  Fjcila  clay,  and  the  upper  the  Saxicava  saml.  If  a  line  he 
drawn  IVom  the  onllet  of  Lake  (Miamplain  to  Ottawa,  and  from  the 
extremities  of  this,  as  a  l)asc,  two  others  he  carried  to  (^nehec,  there 
will  I)C!  incliule(l  a  very  level  triangular  area  of  aI)ont  9,000  square 
miles,  for  the  greater  part  covered  by  the  Champlaiii  clays  and  sands. 
The  plains  on  either  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence  lielow  Quebec  are  occu 
pied  by  the  same  formation,  which  is  found  at  intervals  as  far  down 
as  3Iatanne;  while  on  the  north  side  it  covers  an  extensive  area  in 
the  valley  of  the  Saguenay  and  around  lake  St.  .John  and  its  tribu 
taries.  Clays  belonging  to  the  lower  division  are  found  at  various 
levels  from  the  surface  of  the  sea  to  GOO  leot  above  it,  and  in  some 
cases  they  have  been  observed  some  feet  below  the  sea-level.  The 
rivei-  U()Ug(^  enters  the  Ottawa  between  hills  of  bare  rock;  l)ut  on  its 
>vestern  side,  in  the  fourth  range  of  Grenville.  a  bank  of  clay  1:^5  feet 
in  thickness  occurs,  the  summit  of  which  is  405  ieet  above  the  sea. 
Again,  not  far  east  of  tills  river,  in  the  rear  of  Grenville,  and  in  the 
front  of  Harrington,  is  an  tirea  of  sevei'al  hundred  acres,  underlaid  by 
.stratilied  blue  clay,  the  surface  of  which  is  about  ')00  feet  above  the 
sea.  Several  similiar  portions  of  clay  occur  in  that  vicinity.  In  Gaspe, 
at  llu!  head  of  Lake  3Iata|)edia,  stratilied  clay  occurs  at  the  height  of 
480  feet,  and  near  the  outlet  of  the  same  lake,  at  the  height  of 
5.30  feet  above  the  sea.     At  Bay  St.  I'aul,  oa  the  north  side  of  the  St. 


M 


Lawrence,  terraces  occur  at  lIJO  and  360  feet  above  the  sea.  lAIarine 
fossils  occur  throughout  the  strata  in  which  those  terraces  are  worn, 
and  still  highei"  at  IJOO  feist  above  the  sea  level.  In  the  valley  of  the 
Saguenay,  marine  cla_ys,  generally  overlaid  by  sand  and  gravel,  are 
I'ound  almost  everywhere  between  Ila-ha  bay  and  the  west  side  of  Lake 
St.  Johns;  as  well  as  between  that  bay  and  Chicontimi.  Between  Chi- 
contimi  and  Ha-ha  bay  the  clay  is  sometimes  GOO  feet  in  thickness. 
About  a  half  mile  below  the  falls  of  Bell  Riviere,  marine  shells  occur  in 
the  clay  at  400  feet  abov(!  the  sea. 

The   Saxicava   sand   forms  a   belt   on   the    north    side   of    the  St. 


Mesozoir  (t)nl  Cnnnzoic  Geolnijn  mid   I'uhvontahtijy, 


205 


Liiwrcnco,  at  the  basi?  of  tlic  Tiiiiirciitidc  liills,  fniin  Ottjiwii  t(»  C'apf 
'I'oiirinciilc.  It,  »'X|)!111(Ih  on  the  Si,.  Miiiiricc  lo  a  iMctiiltli  of  tliiitv 
milcH.  To  llu'  westward  it  covt'cs  imicli  ol  llu'  siirfari!  in  tlu'  Iriaiimi 
hir  area  hotwccii  tiu!  St.  Lawrt'iico  and  tlu^  Otta^va  oast  oftlir  meridian 
of  Kingston.  .Marine  slieils  oceiir  in  this  .s.-iiid  in  N»'|»e:in,  at  410  feet 
above  tli(f  sea  ;  in  Keiiyon,  at  "iWh  feet  ;  in  FitzroVi  "*^  •»'^'*  '"^'^'^  1  '" 
Wineiiester,  at  iJOO  feet  ,  and  at  raUenliani  nulls,  :it  22()  f«'et.  South 
of  the  St.  liawrenec!  these  sands  aii'  found  aloni;  the  Ixtnnd.-iry  of  New 
Voi'k.  From  tii((  cast  side  of  .Missiscinoi  l)ay,  a  i)elt  extends  between 
the  clay  plains  of  th(>  sonth  sliore  of  the  St.  I/iwrenee,  wliieli  it  partly 
overlies,  and  the  more  elevated  region  to  the  sontheast,  as  far  as 
Metis.  At  the  Wiillhriduc  ."Mills,  in  Stanhridi^'e,  marine  .shells  oeeur 
at  a  height  of  1(50  feet,  and  near  Upton,  on  the  (ir;ind  Trnnk  railway, 
at  l{()0  feet  above  sea  level. 

In  18();{,  J.  S.  Newberry  ■  described,  from  the  Miocene  of  r»el!in<;hain 

bay,    Eqiilsetnm  rolmsfmn,    Sabal    cjimphcJ/f,    Querent   corioecu,    Q. 

Jfexuona,    Q.   h((iilcsi<vfuH(i^  from    Birch    bay.    Washington   Territory, 

Taxodnun  occidentci/e,  Sniildx  rijclophii1ln;  and  from  Belli ngham  hay 

Querctis  cllipfinti,  and  Popiilns ^llahelhun. 

Rcmondf  described,  from  the  Pliocene  near  Kirkers  Pass,  Uardium 
(/abbi\  .and  Osb'ea  hourt/eoisi. 

In  1804,  T.  A.  ('onrad];  d(!scribed,  from  the  Eocene  of  Dallas  connty. 
Alabama,  Tnn'ifel/a  pi'tvoincta ;  from  Pamnnkey  river,  Vii'ginia, 
Pi'ofocardia  vfr;/in/(ni(t ;  and  from  0  miles  east  of  Washington,  DC. 
Dosiniopsis  mecki. 

He  described,  from  the  ."NFiocene  at  Natural  Well,  Danphin  county, 
North  Carolina,  Fascioldvin  suhfenta,  and  Lirosoma  curiu'rosfrnm. 

The  ^liocenej;  Strata, on  the  northern  slope  of  the  Monte  Diablo  Range, 
consists  of  heavy-bedded  sandstone.ss. 

In  crossing  over  the  Santa  Cruz  Range  from  Santa  Cruz,  in  a 
northerly  direction  to  the  Santa  Clara  Valley,  before  reaching  the 
metaniorphic,  a  mas.s  of  rocks  is  traversed,  which  is  nincli  broken  and 
elevated,  some  of  the  ridges  being  fully  2,000  feet  high.  In  rising  on 
to  this  elevated  vidgo,  however,  we  first  p:iss  over  a  belt  of  unaltered 
strata,  which  near  the  town  lie  nearly  horizontal,  and  which  appear 
to  have  escaped  the  action  of  the  elevating  forces,  by  which  tlu;  main 


*  Bo.st.  Jour.  X;it.  Ilitit.,  vol.  vii. 
t  I'roc.  Cal.  Aciul.  Sci. 
X  Pro.  Aciut.  N'iit.  Si',i.,  vol.  xiv. 
$  Geo.  Siir.  of  Califomia,  1805. 


'   I, 


.Mi 


200 


Tet'Hartj. 


I'llilill  lias  1)0011  I'lliMiMl.  'I'licic  :i|i|M':ii's  to  1)1'  no  <l<)ii))t  tli.'it  those 
liori/coiitill  Htr.'itii  MIC  l.lio  stiiiic  oiit's  wliirli  itro  liltoti  ii|>  in  tin 
iiioiinfaiii.s,  iiiul  Unit  llicy  Ik'Ioiih  lo  tlu'  Mirtcciic  'l^'i'ti;ir\ .  At  .-iImhiI 
six  iiiilcs  iVdiii  Sruitii  ( 'ni/,  aio  suiiic  siiiiiiihir  «'\aiii|)li's  of  \V(  atlicn  i| 
MaiKlstuiic,  wliifli  arc  known  as  the  '•  Kiiiiis "'  or  the  •■  IJniiioil  Citv." 


II 


oro   |)or|i 


'iiilicnlar  I  iilics  or  i-liiiiiiu'V's  ol' rock  .'ir(>  round,   rioiiioiit'li 


tliroc  It'i'l.  ill  diamolor,  the  sainlstKiio  a|)|)oarinn'  to  Ii;ivt'  hi'on  liaiiliiicil 
ill  concent  ric  layers  liy  liic  inllltratioii  ol"  rcirii'^iiioiis  solutions,  ;in<l 
this  lijirdoiicil  portion  lias  wit  listooil  tin-  aition  of  t  ho  ol'iiioiils,  while 
the  solter  l)aii(ls.  ;in<l  t  he  intca'ior  i-oliiiiinar  or  cyliinlrical  masses,  have 
woathoreil  away,  leaving'  a  pile  of  rocks  i)i'liiii(l,  which,  by  some  e\- 
ei'tion  oi'  tlio  iniauination.  can  he  coiistnied  into  a  reseinhlaiua;  to  :i 
ruined  city,  on  a  very  small  scale. 

The   whole   reiiion   traversed  l»y    the  trail    from    l'('se!i(h'ro   to  Si-nis 
villo.  ;is   far  as  the  inotaiiiorphic  on  the  easteiii  I'di^o  of  the  raiij^c,    is 
hitiiininoiis  shalo,  of  Miocene  a<;-e.  with  occasional    hods  of  inlorstrati- 
lied  sandstone,  of  vvliioh  the  dip  is  irronniar,  hiit  not  liijjih. 

lletwoen  I'etalniiia  and  the  entrance  of  Toinalos  hay,  |)atclies  of 
MiooiMio  siindstono  (n'ciir  from  2r>0  to  liOO  foot  thick,  rostinu  nncon 
forinal)ly  upon  altorod  strata.  The  rocks  luw  soft,  yellow  sandstone. 
witli  laryo  nodules  of  iiard.  hliio  calcareous  sandstone,  imix'dded  in 
them.  Hotweon  the  hii;host  |)t)ints  near  the  lioad  of  Tomales  hay  and 
Piinta  Keyes,  thoro  are  minor  riduos  of  .Mio(;ono  sandstone,  havini!,  a 
low  southwest  dip. 

The  sandstoiu!s  of  the  Santa  .^[onica  and  Snnta  Susanna  Ranges, 
are,  in  largo  part,  of  Mioci.'iio  age.  The  ridgos  hounding  tlio  San 
Fernando  valley  on  the  southwest,  are  made  up  of  light  bituminous 
slates,  dipping  generally  to  the  east  or  north  east  :  they  form  roundeil 
hills,  bearing  the  marks  of  extensive  erosion.  A  higher  range  to  the 
west  of  these  hills  eonnoots  the  two  chains,  and  rises  to  a  height  of 
;5,000  feet  above  the  sea,  being  made  up  of  Mioei'iie  sandstones,  highly 
inclined  and  in  some  plaees  metamorphosed. 

The  eluiin  of  the  Santa  Inez  Range  rises  to  the  north  of  Santa  IJar- 
bara.  a  conspieuous  oltjeet  to  those  a[)proaehiug  this  place  by  water.  As 
far  as  known,  it  takes  its  origin  at  a  point  <lue  north  of  Bu.emivontura. 
and  running  a  little  north  of  west  (X,  84  dog.  W.)  for  a  distance  of  over 
00  miles,  it  meets  the  sea  at  Point  Conc<'pci(»n.  The  chain  has  its 
greatest  elevation  ji[)i)arontly  wmw  Santa  Barbara,  whore  it  is  about 
o.SOO  I'eet  high.  To  the  west  of  the  Gaviota  Pass  it  has  an  elevation 
of  about  2.500  feet.     The  main  ridge  is  entirely  composed  of  jMioccne 


MeHozoir  (1)1(1  €rfnozoir  Gaoloyy  and  Pahvontolnijy, 


207 


snndstnncs,  witludit  any  n|)p«mran('o  f*»f'  oriiptivo   rock,  and  nlso    with 
vory  little  riiotfiiiuir|)liisin. 

'V\\iy  uii.'iltcriMl  sjindsUiHos  cxtpn«liri;ii  iilon^  the  (iiivilian  Unn^;!',  near 
the  Sun  .fiiiui  valley,  and  tVntninj::  the  Snn  Jimn  hills,  wliich  exti'iul  to 
the  Pnjaro  river,  are  ref<M*re(l  to  the  Miocene.  In  these  hills  the  strata 
arc  very  hiuivy  bedded,  and  hav(»  Ji  dip  everywhere  to  the  south.  The 
nin^erials  of  which  they  are  made  np  are  often  coarse,  and  sometimes 
larj^i  enoiiiLrh  lo  form  a  eoniilomeratc',  amonji;  the  pebbles  of  which  jas- 
|)ei'  and  otluM*  meiamoi'phic  rocks  [ircdominate. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  Hay  of  iMonterey  the  |j;ranit((  is  flanked  l)y  Mi- 
ocene sandstone.  lioth  rocks  are  conslih'rably  altered,  for  a  distance 
of  about  20  feet  from  the  jnnction;  the  sandstone  is  softened  and  dis- 
inteyratcid,  and  the  granite  discolored.  The  mctamorphism  has  ho  af- 
fected both  rocks  that  it  is  not  easy  to  determine  the  exact  line  of 
jnnction. 

The  INIiocenc  sandstones  are  displayed  in  some  places  in  the  region 
between  the  Canada  de  las  Uvas  and  Soledad  Pass,  nearly  2,500  feet 
in  thickness.  From  the  summit  of  the  higher  upturned  strata,  a  wide 
belt  of  Tertiary  locks  may  be  seen  skirting  the  Coast  Ranges,  and 
worn  into  rounded  hills,  which  are  generally  l)arren,  especially  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Tnlare  valley. 

The  Pliocene  beds  between  Merced  Lake  and  Mussel  Point,  on  the 
peninsula  of  San  Francisco,  are  made  up  of  a  bluish  sandstone,  of 
which  the  grains  are  cemented  l)y  carbonate  of  lime,  interstratified  with 
hard,  fine  conglomerates,  of  which  the  pebbles  are  evidently  derived 
from  the  adjacent  jaspery  rocks  of  Cretaceous  age.  These  strata  con- 
tain Scutella  inferlineata,  Crepidnhi  princeps,  both  of  which  are  ex- 
tinct, together  with  several  species  still  living  on  the  coast. 

At  the  head  of  Pleasant  valley,  the  strata  are  overlaid  by  beds  of 
volcanic  ashes,  interstratified  with  gravels,  the  whole  series  being  con- 
formable and  dipping  at  a  low  angle  to  the  east.  They  appear  to  be  of 
Pliocene  age,  and  identical  in  most  respects  with  the  sedimentary  vol- 
canic beds  to  the  north  of  Kirker's  Pass. 

To  the  north  of  San  Pablo  are  low  hills  of  very  recent  strata,  which 
are  nearly  horizontal,  and  which  rest  unconformably  on  the  edges  of 
the  Tertiary,     They  are  referred  to  Post- pliocene  age. 

From  Tres  Pinos,  13  miles  from  San  Juan,  to  Booker's,  a  distance  of 
about  13  miles  in  a  direct  line,  the  road  follows  the  Arroyo  Joaquim 
Soto,  a  branch  of  the  San  Benito.  Along  this  road  there  are  vast  de- 
posits of  gravel,  or  entirely  unconsolidated  detritus,  and  which  form  a 


208 


Tertiary. 


*i 


large  portion  of  the  series  of  ridges  betvveeu  the  Gavilau,  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  Monte  Diablo  Range  on  the  other.  At  th-:  first  exposure, 
about  two  miles  beyond  Tres  Pinos,  the  stratified  detritus  forms  n, 
steep  bluff  about  400  feet  above  the  creek.  The  gravel  is  made  up  of 
pebbles  of  granite,  red  and  green  jaspers,  and  silicious  slate  and  other 
metamorphic  materials.  At  a  point  a  tew  miles  below  Bookers  the 
strata  are  worn  into  precipitous  canons,  with  bare  bluff  banks  or  al- 
most perpendicular  walls,  regularly  stratified,  and  varying  in  fineness 
from  a  coarse  gravel  to  fine  sand,  with  here  and  there  a  thin  band  of 
consolidated  materials,  the  remainder  entirely  in  the  original  condition 
in  which  it  was  deposited,  as  far  as  being  held  together  by  any  cement 
is  concerned.  The  thickness  of  these  deposits  is  enormous;  one  hill 
was  found  to  be  1,274  feet  above  the  valle\',  and  another  1,800  feat, 
Botii  these  hills  are  entirely  made  up  of  these  unconsolidated  materials. 
This  region  gives  one  a  most  vivid  idea  of  how  recently  geological 
changes  of  magnitude  have  taken  place  in  this  pai't  of  the  State,  and 
furnishes  most  impressive  testimony  to  add  to  that  obtained  in  other 
places,  in  relation  to  tlie  lateness  of  the  geological  epoch,  during  which 
this  portio'^  of  the  chain  was  elevated.  It  would  appear  that  the  basin, 
in  which  these  strata  were  deposited,  was  drained  of  the  water  at  suc- 
cessive intervals,  by  the  elevation  of  the  basin  itself,  judging  from  the 
disturbed  position  of  the  strata  it  contains,  and  not  by  the  gradual 
vvearino-  uvvay  of  a  barrier  at  its  lower  end. 

Prof.  J.  W.  Dawson*  described  tie  Post-pliocene  deposits  in  the 
country  abound  Cacouna  and  Riviere-du-Loup.  The  depressions  be- 
tween the  ridges  are  occupied  by  these  deposits  resting  upon  the 
Quebec  Group  of  rocks.  The  oldest  member  of  the  deposit,  is  a  tough 
marine  bo'-vlder  clay,  its  cement  formed  of  gray  or  reddish  mud,  de- 
rived from  the  w^aste  oi  the  shales  of  the  Quebec  Group,  and  the  stones 
and  bowlders  with  which  it  is  filled,  partly  derived  from  the  harder 
members  of  that  Group,  and  partly  from  the  Laurentian  hills,  on  the 
()p[)osite  or  northern  side  of  the  I'iver,  more  than  twenty  miles  distant. 
The  thickness  of  the  bowlder  clay  is  variable,  but  atlle  Verte,  it  forms 
a  terrace  50  feet  in  height.  The  bowlder  clay  at  Cacouna,  is  a  deep- 
water  dei)osit.  Its  most  abundant  shells  are  Leda  trtmcata,  Nucula 
feian's,  and  Tel/uia  jji'oxima,  and  these  are  imbedded  in  the  clay  with 
the  valves  closed,  and  in  as  perfect  condition  as  if  the  animals  still  in- 
habited them.  The  bowlder  clay  is  also  fossiliferous  at  3Iurray  bay, 
St.  Nicholas,  and  Cape  Elizabeth. 


"  Can.  Nat,  and  Geol.  new  ser.,  vol.  ii. 


Mesozoic  and  Cobnozoic  Geology  and  PaUvontology. 


209 


Above  the  bowlder  clay,  tliere  occiu's  a  dark  gray,  soft,  sandy  clay, 
containing  numerous  bowlders,  and  above  this  several  feet  of  stratified 
sandy  clay  without  bowlders  ,  while  on  the  sides  of  the  ridges,  and  at 
some  places  near  the  present  shore,  ther-^  are  beds  and  terraces  of  sand 
and  gravel  constituting  old  shingle  beaches,  appa'rently  much  more  re- 
cent than  the  other  deposits.  All  of  the  deposits  are  more  or  less 
fossiliferous.  The  surface  of  the  rocks  beneath  the  bowlder  clay,  is 
polished  and  striated  in  the  direction  of  northeast  and  southwest,  or 
that  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley. 

W.  M.  Gabb*  described,  from  the  Post-i)liocene  of  San  Pedro  and 
Santf,  Barbara,  Turcica  coffea,  and  Calllostoynu  tricolor. 

Dr.  Joseph  Lciidyf  described,  from  the  Miocene  of  White  river, 
Nebraska,  /ihinoceros  occidenfalis  ;  from  Texas,  H.  meridianus  ;  from 
Calaveras  county,  California,  It.  hesjyeriKs.  And  from  the  Pliocene  of 
California,  Eqims  occidenUdis. 

R.  P.  Whitfieldt  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  the  Southern  States 
Pisania  claibornensis,  Pyriddjiivenis^  Fuhjur  Iriseriahs,  I^umis  tortilits, 
Pseudoliva  elliptica,  ^lonopfyyma  leai,  Cohtmhella  turricala,  Pleuro- 
torna  capax,  P.  nasntHnt,  P.  persa,  P.  adeona,  Voluf.a  newcombana, 
Mitra  haleaua^  31.  biconica,  Natica  erecta,  now  Lacunaria  erecta, 
I^.  perspecta,  iV".  revema,  N.  oniista,  jV.  alabamensis^  now  Lacunaria 
alabaviensis,  N.  aperla,  Vclutina  cxpansa.  Cerithium  viitatum,  Po- 
tamides  alab  amen  sin,  Turritella  eurynome^  T.  inuUilira,  T.  alabanien- 
sis,   Cucullaia  macrodonta,  Crasjafclla  famidida. 

T.  A.  Conrad§  described,  fiom  the  Jackson  Group,  at  Enterprise, 
Mississippi,  Corbula  Jilosa,  Dione  securiformis,  D.  annexa,  Tellina 
ebitrneopsis,  T.  albaria,  T.  linifera,  Alveinus  miuutus,  Sphairella  bulla, 
Gyclas  curta,  Protocardia  Z/ma,  Gouldia  pygmma,  Axina,a  iu- 
equistriata,  A.  dupliatriata,  JSTuculana  lini/era,  JS'ucula  npheniopsis. 
Arcoperna  filosa,  Pecten  scintellatus,  now  Carnpfonectes  scintelhdus. 
Doliopsis  quinqnecosta,  now  Galeodia  quinquecosta,  Turritella 
perdita,  Mesalia  arenicola. 

From  divers  places  in  Alabama,  JMIssissippi  and  Texas,  Strepsidura 
lintea,  Surcala  yabbi,  >S.  linlca,  (Jochlespirti  enyonata,  Moniliopsiti 
elaborafa,  Drillin  texana,  Tortolira  texana,  Monoptyyma  curta, 
Volutilithes  indenta,    V.  impressa.,  Obeliscns  perexilis,  Architectonica 


'.  i 


■'•'  Pro.  Cal.  Aciul.  Sci. 
V  Pro.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 
I  Am.  .Tour.  Coiicli.,  vol.  i. 
'^  Am.  Jour.  Couch.,  vol.  i. 


rrp^ 


210 


Tertiary. 


'  < 


coelatura,  Gancellaria  impressa,  C.  tortiplicn,  Tornatellaui  l(ita,Corhula 
fllosa,  JUgeria  donneaa,  Cytheriopsis  hydnno,  Cyclas  claihornensis, 
Mysia  deUoidea,  Conns  alveafiis,  C.  siibsauri'dens,  CocMeapira  bella, 
Htccciirif.on  altum,  Limatia  marylcotdica,  ClrsoHtreiaa  claibornensis. 
Gancellaria  ellapsa,  Dentalium  densatinn  ;  from  Shark  river,  Mon- 
mouth count}',  New  Jersey,  Pleurotomaria  perlafa^  Snrcula  annosa, 
Actaionema  prisca,  and  Avicula  annosa. 

In  186(1,  Prof.  J.  W.  Dawson*   said  the  snow-clad  hills  of  Green- 
land send  down  to  the  sea  great  glaciers,  which  in  the  bays  and  fiords 
of  that  inhospitable  region,  form,  at  their  extremities,  huge  cliffs  of  ever- 
lasting ice,  and  annually  "  calve,"  as  the  seamen  say,  or  give  off  a 
gi'eat  progeny  of  ice  islands,  which  slowl}'  drifted  to  the  southward 
by  the  Arctic  current,  pass  along  the  American  coast,  diffusing  a  cold 
and  bleak  atmosphere,  until  they  melt  in  the  warm  waters  of  the  Gulf 
stream.     INIanj^  of  these  bergs  enter  the  straits  of  Belle-Isle,  for  the 
Arctic  current  clings  closely  to  the  coast,  and  a  part  of  it  seems  to  be 
deflected  into  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  through  this  passage,  carrying 
with  it  manj'  large  bergs.     Mr.  Vaughan,  late  superintendent  of  the 
light  house  at  Belle-Isle,  has  kept  a  register  of  icebergs   for  several 
years.     He  states  that  for  ten  which  enter  the  straits,  fifty  drift  to  the 
southward,  and  that  most  of  those  which  enter  pass  inward  on   the 
north  side  of  the  island,  drift  toward  the  western  end  of  the  straits  and 
then  pass  out  on  the  south  of  the  island,  so  that  the  straits  seem  to  be 
merely  a  sort  of  eddy  in  the  course  of  the  bergs.     The  number  in  the 
straits  varies  much  in  different   seasons   of  the  j'ear.     The   greatest 
number  are  seen  in  spring,  especially  in  May  and  June;  and  toward 
autumn  and  in  the  winter  very  few  remain.     Tliose  whicrh  remain  until 
autumn  are  reduced  to  mere  skeletons;  but  if  they  survive  until  winter, 
they  again  grow  in  dimensions,  owing  to  tlie  accumulations  upon  them 
of  snow  and  new  ice.     Those  that  we  saw  early  in  July  were  large  and 
massive  in  their  proportions.     The  few  that  remained  when  we  returned 
in  September,  were  smaller  in  size,  and  cut  into  fantastic  and  toppling 
pinnacles.     Vaughan  records  that  on  the  30th  of  Maj^  1858,  he  counted 
in  the  straits  of  Belle-Isle  490  bergs,  the  least  of  them  60  feet  in  height, 
some  of  them  half  a  mile  long  and  200  feet  high.     Only  ,^  of  the  vol- 
ume of  floating  ice  appears  above  water,  and  man}'  of  these  great  bergs 
may  thus  touch  the  ground  in  a  depth  of  30  fathoms  or  more,  so  that 
if  we  imagine  400  of  them  moving  up  and  down  under  the  influence  of 


*  Can.  Nat.  &  (ieol.,  2d  series,  vol.  iii- 


Mesozoic  and  Cmnozoic  Geology  and  Palceontology. 


211 


the  current,  oscillating  slowly  with  the  motion  of  the  sea,  and  grind- 
ing on  the  rocks  and  stone-covered  bottom,  at  all  depths,  from  the  cen- 
ter of  the  channel,  we  may  form  some  conception  of  the  effects  of  these 
huge  polishers  of  the  sea  floor. 

Of  the  bergs  which  pass  outside  of  the  straits,  many  ground  on  the 
banks  off  Belle  Isle.  Vaughan  has  seen  a  hundred  large  bergs 
aground  at  one  time  on  the  banks,  and  they  ground  on  various  parts 
of  the  banks  of  Newfoundland,  and  all  along  the  coast  of  that  island. 
As  they  are  borne  by  the  deep  seated  cold  current,  and  are  scarcely  at 
all  affected  by  the  wind,  they  move  somewhat  uniformly,  in  a  direction 
from  N.  E.  to  S.  W.,  and  when  they  touch  the  bottom  the  striation  or 
grooving  which  they  produce  must  be  in  that  direction. 

In  passing  through  the  straits  in  Jul}',  we  saw  a  great  number  of 
bergs,  some  were  low  and  flat  topped  with  perpendicular  sides,  others 
were  conca.e  or  roof-shaped  like  great  tents  pitched  on  the  sea  ;  others 
were  rounded  in  outline  or  rose  into  towers  and  pinnacles.  Most  of 
them  were  of  a  pure  dead  white,  like  loaf  sugar,  shaded  with  pale 
bluish  green  in  the  great  rents  and  recent  fractures.  One  of  them 
seemed  as  if  it  had  grounded  and  then- overturned,  presenting  a  flat 
and  scored  surface  covered  with  sand  and  earthy  matter. 

After  describing  the  glaciers  of  Mont  Blanc,  he  lays  down  the 
following  rules  : 

1.  Glaciers  heap  up  their  debris  in  abrupt  ridges.  Floating  ice 
sometimes  does  this,  but  more  usually  spreads  its  load  in  a  more  or 
less  uniform  sheet. 

2.  The  material  of  moraines  is  all  local,  icebergs  carry  their  de- 
posits often  to  great  distances  from  their  sources. 

3.  The  stones  carried  by  glaciers  are  mostly  angular,  except  where 
the}'  have  been  acted  on  by  torrents.  Those  moved  by  floating  ice 
are  more  often  rounded,  being  acted  on  by  ulie  waves  and  by  the 
abrading  action  of  sand  drifted  by  currents. 

4.  In  the  marine  glacial  deposits,  mud  is  mixed  with  stones  and 
bowlders.  In  the  case  of  land  glaciers,  most  of  this  mud  is  carried  oft' 
by  streams,  and  deposited  elsewhere. 

5.  The  deposits  from  floating  ice  may  contain  marine  shells.  Those 
of  glaciers  can  not,  except  where,  as  in  Greenland  and  Spitzbergen, 
glaciers  push  their  moraines  out  into  the  sea. 

6.  It  is  the  nature  of  glaciers  to  flow  in  the  deepest  ravines  they  can 
find,  and  such  ravines  drain  the  ice  of  extensive  areas  of  mountain 
land.  Icebergs,  on  the  contrary,  act  with  greatest  ease  on  flat  sur- 
faces, or  slight  elevations  in  the  seat  bottom. 


TT^"" 


212 


Tertiary, 


:fs  ' 


7.  Glaciers  must  descend  slopes,  jind  must  be  bucked  by  large  sup 
plies  of  perennial  snow.    Icebergs  act  independently,  and  being  water- 
borne,  may  work  up  slopes  and  on  level  surfaces. 

8.  Glaciers  striate  the  sides  and  bottoms  of  their  ravines  very  un 
equally,  acting  with  great  force  and  effect  only  on  those  places  wheii" 
their  weight  impinges  most  heavily.  Icebergs,  on  the  conti-ary,  beinu 
carried  by  constant  currents,  and  over  comparatively  Hat  surface-'. 
must  striate  and  grind  more  regularly  over  large  areas,  and  with  less 
reference  to  local  inequalities  of  surface. 

9.  The  direction  of  the  striai  and  grooves  produced  by  glaciers  de 
pends  on  the  direction  of  the  valleys.     Tliat  of  icebergs,  on  Ihe  con 
trary,  depends  upon  the  direction  of  marine   currents,  which  is  not 
determined  by  the  outline  of  surface,  but  is  influenced  by  the  large 
and  wide  depressions  of  the  sea  bottom, 

10.  When  subsidence  of  the  land  is  in  progress,  floating  ice  may 
carry  bowldere  from  lower  to  higher  levels.  Glaciers  can  not  do  this 
under  any  circumstances,  though  in  their  progress  the^^  may  leave 
blocks  perched  on  the  tops  of  peaks  and  ridges. 

He  further  said,  that,  in  all  these  points  of  difference,  the  bowlder 
clay  and  drift  of  Canada,  and  other  parts  of  North  America,  cor- 
respond rather  with  the  action  of  floating  ice  than  of  land  ice. 
More  especiall}'  is  this  the  case  in  the  character  of  the  striated  sur 
faces,  the  bedded  distribution  of  the  deposits,  the  transport  of  mate- 
rial up  the  natuial  slope,  the  presence  of  marine  shells,  and  the 
mechanical  and  chemical  character  of  the  bowlder  clay. 

He  als  )  enumerated  the  following  Post-pliocene  plants  as  occur 
ring,  in  nodules,  at  Green's  Creek,  and  other  places  in  Canada  to  wit: 
Drosero,  rutundifoU'.t,  Acer  spicatum,  Potentilla  canadensis,  Gai/lxs- 
saccia.  resinosa,  Populas  balsainifera,  Thuja  occf.denlalis,  Potaino- 
(/et'm  perfoliatas,  P.  pusillus,  Equisetam  scirpoides.  None  of  the 
plants  are  properly  Arctic  in  their  distribution,  and  the  assemblage 
may  be  characterized  as  a  selection  from  the  present  Canadian  flora  of 
some  of  the  more  hardy  species  iiaving  the  most  northern  range.  At 
Green's  Creek  (near  Ottawa)  the  plant-bearing  nodules  occur  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  Leda  clay,  which  contains  a  few  bowlders,  and  i.s 
apparentl}',  in  places,  overlaid  by  large  bowlders,  while  no  distinct 
bowlder  clay  underlies  it.  The  circunastances  which  accumulated  the 
thick  bed  ot  bowlder  clay  near  Montreal,  were  probably  absent  in  the 
Ottawa  valley.  In  any  case,  W(;  must  regard  the  deposits  of  Green's 
Creek  as  coeval  with  the  Leda  clay  of  Montreal,  and  with  the  period 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoie  Geology  and  Palceontology. 


213 


of  the  greatest  abiii.  ar/e  of  Leda  truncata,  tlie  most  exclusively 
Arctic  shell  of  these  deposits.  In  other  words,  he  regarded  the  plants 
above  mentioned  as  probably  belonging  to  the  period  of  greatest  re- 
frigeration of  which  we  have  any  evidence — of  course,  not  including 
that  mythical  period  of  universal  incasement  in  ice,  of  which,  in  so 
far  as  Canada  is  concerned,  there  is  no  evidence  whatever. 

The  Tertiary  formation  *  exists  in  the  sontliern  part  of  the  State 
of  Illinois.  It  is  best  developed  in  Pulaski  and  Massac  counties. 
It  is  represented  by  a  series  of  stratified  sands  and  clays  of  various 
colors,  with  beds  of  silicious  gravel,  often  cemented  into  a  ferrugin- 
ous conglomerate  by  the  infiltration  of  a  hydroxyd  of  iron.  In  some 
places  it  contains  green,  marly  sand,  with  casts  of  fossils,  and  along 
the  edge  of  the  Ohio,  at  extreme  low  water,  at  Caledonia,  there  is  a 
thin  bed  of  lignit(!.  At  Fort  Massac,  just  above  Metropolis,  the  fer- 
ruginous conglomerate  is  from  forty  to  fifty  feet  in  thickness.  Near 
Caledonia,  a  section  gave  a  thickness  of  56^-  feet. 

T.  A.  Conradf  described,  from  the  Miocene  of  the  Eastern  and 
Southern  States,  Nassa  suhcylindrica,  Volutifnsus  typtis^  Cancellarki 
ficalarfna,  Saxicavn  paril/s,  Spisula  capillar) a,  Tellinn  peraeuta,  T. 
capillifera,  Astarte  com.psonema,  Lithophaga  si/halveata,  3facomn 
rirginiava,  Mercennria  obfusa,  and  Cnmingia  medinlis. 

Philip  P.  Carpent  .•;);  described,  from  the  Pliocene  of  Santa  Barbara, 
California,  Turrifella,  jeweffA,  Bittium  armillatitm,  Opalin  insculpta, 
Trophon  fennisGidpfus,  and  Pisaniafortis. 

In  1867,  Prof.  Vj.  W.  HilgardjJ  said  that  nowhere  has  the  geologist 
more  need  of  divesting  himself  of  reliance  upon  lithological  characters, 
than  in  the  study  of  the  Mississippi  Eocene.  Not  only  do  the  m.iteri.als 
of  the  different  groups  often  bear  a  most  extraordinary  resemblance  to 
each  otiier,  but  their  character  varies  incessantly,  in  one  and  the  same 
stratum,  within  short  distances.  Hale  remarks  that  in  Mississippi, 
the  Orbitoides  limestone  seems  to  be  represented  by  blue  marlstone, 
and  so  it  is,  sometimes.  But  while  on  the  one  hand  we  see  the  hard 
limestone  of  the  Vicksburg  bluff  passing  into  blue  marl  (Byram, 
Marshall's  quarry),  we  on  the  other  hand  find  it  passing  equally  Into 
a  rock  undistinguishable  from  that  of  St.  Stephens  (Brandon,  Wayne 
county)  ;  the  varied  fossils  described  by  Conrad  disappearing  almost 


•'•'  Geo.  Sur    of  Til.,  vol.  i. 

t  Am.  Jour.  Conch.,  vol.  ii. 

i  Ann.  k  Mafr.  Nat.  Hist.,  3d  sor.,  vol.  xvii. 

'J  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  &  Arts,  2(1  ser.,  vol.  xliii. 


214 


Tertiary, 


'1 


entirely,  to  be  replaced  by  millions  of  Orbitoides  imbedded  in  a  semi 
indurate  mass  of  carbonate  of  lime,  interspersed  at  times  witli  similar- 
ly constituted  conglomeratic  masses  of  Pecten  pouhoni.  He  could 
not,  therefore,  agree  to  the  propriety  of  distinguishing  as  separate 
divisions  the  Orbitoides  limestone,  and  the  Vicksburg  Group,  The 
oceurrenceof  a  different  species  of  Orbitoides  (0.  Dvpera)  at  Vicksburg, 
does  not  alter  the  case,  for  the  undoubted  O.  mantelfi  occurs  there  also, 
in  the  solid  rock.  And  there  are  few  of  the  chanicteristic  fossils  ol" 
the  Vicksburg  profile,  which  do  not,  on  some  occasi/)ns,  occur  side  by 
side  with  the  O.  manfelh',  and  its  com])anions,  Pecten  pouhoni 
and  Ontrea  vir.kshvrgensis.  Of  course,  the  coral  '>ad  its  favorite 
haunts — the  moUusks  theirs.  There  is  nothing  surprising  in  the  fact, 
that  where  one  abounds,  the  others  are  usually  scarce,  or  vice  versa. 
He  regarded  the  Shell  Bluff  Group  of  Conrad,  or  the  Red  Bluff  Group — 
No.  4  of  the  Vicksburg  section — which  is  charactei'ized  by  the  occur- 
rence of  Ostrea  f/eorginna,  as  more  or  less  co-extensive  with  the  Vicks- 
burg Group,  and  regularly  associated  with  it,  as  a  subordinate  feature. 
Its  inconsiderable  thickness  readily  explains  its  entire  absence  at 
many  points,  where,  stratigraphically,  it  ought  to  appear. 

Prof.  E,  D.  Cope*  described,  from  the  Miocene  of  Charles  county, 
Maryland,  Eschrichfius  cephalus,  Jihahdosteiifi  lafiradix,  Squalodon 
menfo,  Aetohatis  profundus,  Myliohatis  (jigfts^  M.  pacJif/odon,  M.  vi- 
comicanus,  Raja  dux\  ^otidanus  plectrodon,  Galeocerdo  loivisshnus, 
Spfiyrna  magna,  Trionyx  cellulosus,  Thecachampsa  contusor,  T.  seri- 
codon,  Orycterocetus  crocodflinus,  Priscodelphinvs  acutidcns,  Esch 
richtius  lepfocentrus,  Squalodon  protervus,  and  Galcra  macrodon. 

T.  A.  Conradf  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  Texas,  Venericardia 
mooreana;  from  the  Miocene  of  the  Eastern  and  Southern  States,  Plev- 
romeris  decemcostata,  Mactra  contractu,  M.  virginiana,  Lucina  den- 
sata,  Cardium  emmonsi,  3Iercenaria  percrassa,  3fnlinia  par  ills, 
Semete  caroUnensis,  Abra  rmculiformis,  Corhula  curti,  Pecten  tricar  i- 
nntus,  P.  yorkensis,  Sycotypus  pyriformis,  Cylichna,  virginica,  Zizy- 
phinus  briani,  Z.  punctatus,  Neverita  densnta,  K.  emmonsi,  Ptiicho- 
salpinx,  scalaspira,  Paranassa  granifera.  Bursa  cenfrosa,  and  Bnsy- 
con  dumosum.  Prof.  Gill  described,  from  North  Carolina,  Sycotypus 
clongntus. 

In  1868,  Prof.  J.  W.  Dawson;J;  offered  the  following  reasons,  to  show, 

*  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 

t  Am.  Jour.  Conch.,  vol.  iii. 

I  Acadian  GqoloKy. 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoio  Geology  and  Palaeontology. 


215 


show, 


that  the  drift  deposits  of  eastern  America  are  not  to  be  accounted   for 
upon  the  theory  of  a  terrestrial  origin  or  a  supimsed  glacial  period. 

1.  It  requires  a  series  of  suppositions  unlikely  in  themselves,  and  not 
warranted  by  facts.  The  most  important  of  these  is  the  coincidence  of 
a  wide  spread  continent,  and  a  universal  covering  of  ice  in  a  temperate 
latitude.  In  the  existing  state  of  the  world,  it  is  well  known  that  the 
ordinary  conditions  required  by  glaciers  in  temperate  latitudes  are 
elevattid  chains  and  peaks  extending  above  the  snow-line;  and  that 
cases,  in  which,  in  such  hititudes,  glaciers  extend  nearly  to  the  sea 
level,  occur  only  where  the  mean  temperature  is  reduced  by  cold  ocean 
currents  approaching  to  high  land,  as  for  instance,  in  Terra  del  Fuego, 
and  the  southern  extremity  of  South  America.  But  the  temper.'ite  re- 
gions of  North  America  could  not  be  covered  with  a  permanent  mantle 
of  ice  under  the  existing  conditions  of  solar  radiation;  for,  even  if  the 
whole  were  elevated  into  a  table-land,  its  breadth  would  secure  a  suf- 
ficient summer  heat  to  melt  away  tiie  ice,  except  from  high  mountain 
peaks.  Either,  then,  there  must  have  been  immense  mountain-chains 
which  have  disappeared,  or  there  must  have  been  some  unexampled  as- 
tronomical cause  of  refrigeration,  as,  for  example,  the  earth  passing 
into  a  colder  portion  of  space,  or  the  amount  of  solar  heat  being  dim- 
inished. But  the  former  supposition  has  no  warrant  from  geology,  and 
astronomy  affords  no  evidence  for  the  latter  view,  which,  beside,  would 
imply  a  diminution  of  evaporation,  militating  as  much  against  the 
glacier  theor^^  as  would  an  excess  of  heat.  An  attempt  has  recently 
been  made  by  Professor  Frankland  to  account  for  such  a  state  of  things, 
by  the  supposition  of  a  higher  temperature  of  tlie  sea,  along  with  a 
colder  teuperaturc  of  the  laud;  but  this  inversion  of  the  usual  state  of 
things  is  unwarranted  b}^  the  doctrine  of  secular  cooling  of  the  earth; 
it  is  contradicted  by  the  fossils  of  the  period,  which  show  that  the  seas 
were  colder  than  at  present;  and  if  it  existed,  it  could  not  produce  the 
effects  required,  unless  a  preter-natural  arrest  were  at  the  same  time 
laid  on  the  winds,  which  spread  the  temperature  of  the  sea  over  the 
land.  The  alleged  facts  observed  in  Norway,  and  stated  to  support  this 
view,  are  evidently  nothing  but  the  results  ordinarily  observed  in  ranges 
of  hills,  one  side  of  which  fronts  cold  sea-water,  and  the  other  land 
warmed  in  summer  by  the  sun. 

The  ..ipposed  effects  of  the  varyirg  eccentricity  of  the  earth's  orbit, 
so  ably  expounded  by  Mr.  Croll,  are  no  doubt  deserving  of  considera- 
tion in  this  connection;  but  I  agree  with  Sir  Charles  Lyell  in  regard- 
ing them  as  insuflicient  to  produce  any  effect  so  great  as  that  refrigera- 


Tf^ 


It 


216 


Tertiary. 


tlon  suppoHed  by  the  theory  now  before  us,  even  if  aided  b}'  what  Sir 
Cliarles  truly  regards  as  a  more  important  cause  of  cold — namely,  a 
different  distribution  of  land  and  water,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  give 
a  great  excess  of  land  in  high  latitudes, 

2.  It  seems  physically  impossible  that  a  sheet  of  ice,  such  as  that 
supposed,  could  move  over  an  uneven  surface,  striating  it  in  directions 
uniform  over  vast  area.,  and  often  different  from  the  present  inclina- 
tions of  the  surface.  Glacier  ice  may  move  on  very  slight  slopes,  but 
it  must  follow  these  ;  and  the  only  result  of  the  immense  accumulation 
of  ice  supposed,  would  be  to  prevent  motion  altogether  by  tlie  want  of 
slope  or  the  counter-action  of  opposing  slopes,  or  to  induce  a  slight 
and  irregular  motion  toward  the  margins,  or  outward  from  the  more 
prominent  protuberances. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  also,  that,  as  Hopkins  has  shown,  it  is  only  the 
sliding  motion  of  glaciers  that  can  polish  or  erode  surfaces,  and  that 
any  internal  chan<'es,  resulting  from  the  mere  weight  of  a  thick  mass 
of  ice  resting  on  a  level  surface,  could  have  little  or  no  influence  in 
this  way. 

3.  The  tiansport  of  bowlders  to  great  distances,  and  tho  lodgment 
of  them  on  hilltops,  couhl  not  have  b(!en  occasioned  by  glaciers. 
Tliese  carry  downward  the  blocks  that  fall  on  them  from  wasting  cliffs. 
But  the  universal  glacier  supposed  could  have  no  such  cliffs  from 
which  to  collect  ;  arici  it  must  have  carried  bowlders  for  hundreds  of 
miles,  and  left  them  on  points  as  high  as  those  they  were  taken  from. 
On  the  Montreal  Mountain,  at  a  height  of  600  feet  above  the  sea,  are 
huge  bowlders  of  feldspar  from  the  Laurentide  Hills,  which  must  have 
been  carried  oO  to  100  miles  from  points  of  scarcely  greater  elevation, 
and  over  a  valley  in  which  the  strifxi  are  in  a  direction  nearly  at  right 
angles  with  that  of  the  probable  ('riftage  of  the  bowlders.  Quite  as 
striking  examples  occur  in  many  parts  of  the  countr}'.  It  is  also  to 
be  observed  that  bowlders,  often  of  large  size,  occur  scattered  through 
the  marine  stratified  clays  and  sands  containing  sea-shells  ;  and  what- 
ever views  may  be  entertained  as  to  other  bowlders,  it  can  not  be 
denied  that  these  have  been  borne  by  floating  ice.  Nor  is  it  true,  as 
has  been  often  allirmed,  that  the  bowlder  clay  is  destitute  of  marine 
fossils.  At  Isle  Verte,  Riviere  du  Loup.  Murray  Bay,  and  St. 
Nicholas  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  also  at  Cape  Elizabeth,  near  Port- 
land, there  arc  tough  stony  clays  of  the  nature  of  true  "  till,''  and  in 
the  loiver  part  of  tho  drift,  which  contain  numerous  marine  shells  of 
the  usual  Post-pliocene  species. 


Mesozoic  (Did  Ca'tiozoic  Geoloyy  aii<l  PnUv,o\itolo(jy. 


217 


4.  Tlie  Post  plioc(Mie  deposits  of  Canada,  in  their  fossil  remains  and 
general  character,  indicate  a  gradual  elevation  from  a  state  of  depres- 
sion, which  on  the  evidence  of  fossils  must  have  extended  to  at  least 
500  feet,  and  on  that  of  far-traveled  bowlders  to  several  limes  that 
amount;  while  there  is  nothing  but  the  bowlder  claN'  to  represent  the 
previous  subsidence,  and  nothing  whatever  to  reiiresent  the  supposed 
previous  ice-clad  state  of  the  land,  except  the  scratches  on  the  rock 
surfaces,  which  must  have  been  caused  by  the  same  agency  which  de- 
posited the  bowlder  clay. 

5.  The  peat  deposits,  with  fir  roots,  found  below  the  bowlder  clay 
in  Cape  Breton,  the  remains  of  plants  and  land  snails  in  the  marine 
clays  of  the  Ottawa,  and  the  shells  of  the  St.  Lawrence  clays  and 
sands,  show  that  the  sea  at  the  period  in  question  had  nearly  the  tem- 
perature of  the  present  Arctic  currents  of  our  coasif-.,  and  that  the 
land  was  not  covered  with  ice,  but  supported  a  vegetation  similar  to 
that  of  Labrador  and  the  north  shore  of  the  St.  Lawrence  at  present. 
Tiiis  evidence  refers  not  to  the  later  period  of  the  Mammoth  and  the 
Mastodon,  when  the  re-elevation  was  perhaps  nearly  complete,  but  to 
the  earlier  period  contemporaneous  with,  or  immediately  following  the 
supposed  glacier  period.  In  my  former  papers  on  the  Post-i)liocene  of 
the  St.  Lawrence,  I  have  shown  that  the  change  of  climate  involved  is 
not  g)'ea!  n-  than  that  which  may  have  been  due  to  the  subsidence  of 
land,  and  to  the  change  of  the  course  of  the  Arctic  current,  actually 
proved  by  the  deposits  themselves. 

It  has  long  been  known  to  geologists,  that  in  northeastern  America, 
two  main  directions  «»f  striation  of  rock  surfaces  occur,  from  north- 
east to  southwest,  and  from  northwest  to  southeast;  and  that  locally 
the  directions  vary  from  these  to  north  and  south,  and  east  and  west. 
It  would  seem  that  the  dominant  direction  in  the  valley  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  along  the  high  lands  to  the  north  of  it,  and  across  western 
New  York,  is  northeast  and  southwest;  and  that  there  is  another 
series  of  scratches  running  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  former,  across 
the  neck  of  land  between  Georgian  Hay  and  Lake  Ontario,  down  th(! 
valley  of  the  Ottawa,  and  across  parts  of  the  eastern  townships,  con- 
necting with  the  prevalent  south  and  southeast  striation,  which  occurs 
in  the  valleys  of  the  Connecticut  and  Lake  Champlain,  and  elsewhere 
in  New  England,  as  well  as  in  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick. 
What  were  the  determining  conditions  of  these  two  courses,  and  were 
they  contemporaneous  or  distinct  in  time?  The  first  point  to  be  set- 
tled in  answering  these  questions  is  the  direction  of  the  force  which 


Tfi^ 


f 


218 


Tertiary. 


'H 


caused  tho  strise.  Now,  I  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting;,  from  my 
own  observations,  as  well  as  from  those  of  others,  that  for  the-  south- 
west striatlon  tiie  direction  was  from  the  ocean  toward  the  interior, 
against  the  slope  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valley.  The  crag-aud-tuil 
forms  of  all  our  isolated  hills,  and  the  direction  of  transport  of  bowl- 
ders carried  from  them,  show  that  throughout  Canada  the  movement 
was  from  northeast  to  southwest.  This  at  once  disposes  of  the 
glacier  theory  for  the  prevailing  set  of  stria;;  for  we  can  not  suppose 
a  glacier  moving  from  the  Atlantic  up  into  the  interior.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  eminently  favorable  to  the  idea  of  ocean  drift.  A  subsi- 
dence of  America,  such  as  would  at  present  convert  all  the  plains  of 
Canada  and  New  York  and  New  England  into  sea,  would  determine 
the  course  of  the  Arctic  current  over  this  submerged  land  from  north- 
east to  southwest;  and  as  the  current  would  move  up  a  slope.,  the 
ice  which  it  bore  would  tend  to  ground,  and  to  grind  the  bottom 
as  it  passed  into  shallower  water;  for  it  must  be  observed  that  the 
character  of  slope  which  enables  a  glacier  to  grind  the  surface  may 
prevent  ice  borne  by  a  current  from  doing  so,  and  vice  versa. 

Now,  we  know  that  in  the  Post-pliocene  j)eriod,  eastern  America  was 
submerged,  and,  consequently,  the  striation  at  once  comes  into  har- 
niony  with  other  geological  facts.  We  have,  of  course,  to  suppose  that 
the  striation  took  place  during  submergence,  and  that  the  process  was 
slow  and  gradual,  beginning  near  the  sea  and  at  the  lower  levels, 
and  carried  upward  to  the  higher  ground  in  successive  centuries,  while 
the  portions  previousl}^  striated  were  covered  with  deposits  swept 
down  from  the  sinking  land  or  dropped  from  melting  ice. 

The  predominant  southwest  striation,  and  the  cutting  of  the  upper 
lakes,  demand  an  outlet  to  the  west  for  the  Arctic  current.  But  both 
during  depression  and  elevation  of  the  land,  there  must  have  been  a 
time  when  this  outlet  was  obstructed,  and  when  the  lower  levels  of  New 
York,  New  England  and  Canada  were  still  under  water.  Then  the 
valley  of  the  Ottawa,  that  of  the  Mohawk,  and  the  low  country  between 
Lakes  Ontario  and  Huron,  and  the  valleys  of  Lake  Champlain  and  the 
Connecticut,  would  be  straits  or  arms  of  the  sea,  and  the  current,  ob- 
structed in  its  direct  flow,  would  set  principally  along  these,  and  act 
on  the  rocks  in  north  and  south  and  northwest  and  southeast  directions. 
To  this  portion  of  the  process,  I  would  attribute  the  northwest  and 
southeast  striation.  It  is  true,  that  this  view  does  not  account  for  the 
southeast  strice  observed  on  some  high  peaks  in  New  England;  but  it 
must  be  observed  that  even  at  the  time  of  greatest  depression,  the  Arc- 


Meaozoio  and  CcBuozoic  Geology  and  Po la; ontology. 


2H> 


upper 
both 


tic  current  would  ding  to  the  Northern  jjind,  or  l)e  tlirown  mo   rapidly 
to  the  west  that  its  direct  action  niij^ht  not  reacli  sucii  summits. 

Nor  would  I  exclude  alto;^ether  the  action  of  glaciers  in  eastern 
America,  though  I  must  dissent  from  any  view  which  would  assign  to 
them  the  principal  agenc}'  in  our  glacial  phenomena.  Under  a  condi- 
tion of  the  continent  in  whi(!h  only  its  higher  peaks  were  above  tlie 
water,  the  air  wou^l  be  so  moist,  and  the  temperature  so  low,  thati)er- 
manent  ice  may  have  clung  about  mountains  in  the  temperate  latitudes. 
The  striation  itself  shows  that  there  must  have  been  extensive  glaciers, 
as  now,  in  the  extreme  Arctic  regions.  Yet  I  think,  that  most  of  the 
alleged  instances  must  be  founded  on  error,  and  that  old  sea-beaches 
have  been  mistaken  for  moraines.  I  have  failed  to  find  even  in  our 
higher  mountains  any  distinct  sign  of  glacier  action,  though  the  action 
of  the  ocean  breakers  is  visible  almost  to  their  summits;  and  though 
I  have  observed  in  Canada  and  Nova  Scotia  many  old  sea-beaches, 
gravel-ridges,  and  lake-margins,  I  have  seen  notiiing  that  could  fairly 
be  regarded  as  the  work  of  glaciers.  Tiie  so-called  moraines,  in  so 
far  as  m\-  observation  extends,  are  more  probably  shingle  beaches  and 
bars,  old  coast-lines  loaded  with  bowldei's,  trains  of  bowlders  or  "  ozars." 
Most  of  them  convev  to  mv  mind  the  impression  of  ice-action  along;  a, 
slowly  subsiding  coast,  forming  successive  deposits  of  stones  in  the  shal- 
low water,  and  burning  them  in  clay  and  smaller  stones  as  the  depth 
increased.  These  deposits  were  again  modified  during  emergence, 
when  the  old  ridges  were  sometimes  bared  b}' denudation,  and  new  ones 
heaped  up. 

We  now  have,  in  all,  exclusive  of  doubtful  forms,  about  one  hundred 
species  of  marine  invertebrates,  from  the  Post-pliocene  clan's  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  valley.  All,  except  four  or  five  species,  belonging  to  the 
older  or  deep  water  part  of  the  deposit,  are  known  as  living  shells  of 
the  Arctic  or  boreal  regions  of  the  Atlantic.  About  half  of  the  species 
are  fossil  in  the  Post-pliocene  of  Great  Britain.  The  great  majority 
are  now  living  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  on  the  neighboring 
coasts;  and  more  especially  on  the  north  side  of  the  gulf  and  the  coast 
of  Labrador.  In  so  far,  then,  as  marine  life  is  concerned,  the  modern 
period  in  this  country- is  connected  with  that  of  the  bowlder  clay  by 
an  unbroken  chain  of  animal  existence.  These  deposits  in  Lower 
Canada  afford  no  indications  of  the  terrestrial  fauna  ;  but  the  emains 
of  jEleph((s  primigenius,  in  beds  of  similar  age  in  Upi)er  Canada,  show 
that  during  the  period  in  question,  great  changes  occurred  among  the 
animals  of  the  land  ;  and  we  may  hope  to  find  similar  evidences  else 


.!*3 


TW 


I 


220 


Tertiary. 


whoro,  ospncinlly  in  looalitios  whoro,  as  on  i\\v.  Ottawa,  tho  debris  of 
land-pIantH  and  Itnid-Hlu'lls  iwvwv  in  tho  injirinc  dcpositH. 

Tho  EotHMio  of  Now  JiTscy*  in  laiown  as  \\u\  Tppcr  marl  Itccl,  juul 
has  a  thickness  (»f  ;}7  foct.  Fossils  arc  al)un(hint  wherever  iniirl  pits 
have  boon  opened,  l)etvvt'en  Deal  on  tlio  sea  shore  and  Clementon  in 
Camden  connty. 

Tlu!  IMiocenc  is  recognized  by  its  fossils  in  man^'  locjilitios  in  New 
Jersey.  It  is  not  always  c()n(V)rmal)l(!  witli  the  pjocene  below,  and  its 
thickness  is  variable. 

In  180S,  rrof.  E.  D.  Copef  described  the  Miocene  deposit  of  the 
western  shore  of  Maryland,  as  coiisisliiiij  of  a  dark,  sandy  clay,  vary- 
ing from  a  leaden  to  a  blackish  color,  throngh  which  water  does  not 
penetrate.  Its  npper  horizon  intiy  be  traced  along  the  high  shores  and 
cliffs  of  the  Chesapeake  by  the  line  of  trickling  nprings  which  follow 
its  upper  surface.  A  great  bed  of  shells  occurs  at  from  fourteen  to 
twenty-two  feet  below  its  upper  horizon. 

He  described,  defophis  helcroch'tus,  Txcwanthiis  (uvloHitondjiJns,  Pris- 
codelphinits  .spitiosifs,  now  Bclosphijs  .spitio.sns.  P.  nfro/n/'s,  now  /?. 
atropiiis,  P.  stetms,  now  Ji.  sfenus,  ZarharJii's  Jlanelhifor,  Delphin- 
npterns  raschenheriicri,  now  Trefosplnjs  ruschenberf/eri,  D.  lacerfosns, 
now  T.  hu'.ertosus,  D.  f/nbbi\  now  T.gdbbi,  7).  h(iwki»si\  now  2\  haivkinsi, 
D.  tyrnnnus,  now  Eschrictiiis  fi/ranni's,  JJ.  pusillus,  Jref/nptera 
e:i'pa)isa,  now  E.  expnusus;  from  the  P^ocene  green  sand  of^Ioumouth 
county.  New  Jersey,  Pidivophis  ha/idaiiKs,  and  P.  littoralh. 

Isaac  Lea  described,  from  a  Miocene  deposit,  six  miles  northeast  of 
Camden,  New  Jerse}',  ?/»/o  ala/oides,  U.  carn'osoi'dcs,  U.  Immerosoi- 
de.s;  U.  nasntokles,  U.radiatoidcs,  U.  subroti'iidoides,  U.roanokoiden, 
U.  ligavientuwides,  U.  f/randioides,  and  U.  corpulentoldes. 

Dr.  Joseph  Lcidy  described,  from  blue  clay  and  sand  beneath  a  bed 
of  bitumen  of  Pliocene  age,  in  Hardin  connty,  Texas,  3Ief/(donjjx  vnh- 
dus^  Tni('(felisfaf alt's,  and  Emys  petrolei;  from  "Douglas  Fhit,  Calav- 
eras count}',  California,  Elotherium  avpcrbioti;  from  Martinez,  Equns 
puciflcHs,  the  largest  known  fossil  horse  tooth:  from  Ashley  river. 
South  Carolina,  Iloplocetus  obesus;  from  Gibson  county,  Indiana,  Di- 
Gotyles  nasutnn,  found  when  digging  a  well  between  30  and  40  feet  be- 
low the  surface;  from  tho  INIiocene  of  the  Bad  Lands  of  White  river, 
Dakota,    Leptictis  haydeni,  Icfops  dakotensh;  from  Half-moon  Bay 


*  Geo.  of  X.  Jersey,  1868. 
t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 


McHozoic  iiinl  (,'a:iio::oio  Geoltxjij  and   Palivontuloyy. 


221 


Cjiliforniji,  />el/»hintis  oacitlKiis;  from  Wtisliiiij^lon  coimty,  TexiiM,  An- 
chi/tpiis  textniun;  IVom  tlio  Hiitl  LtunU  of  NobruMkii,  Lojt/iioilon  orcfden- 
t(ite,a\ul  from  Slwuk  rivur,  MoimioiiMi  loiinly,  New  Jersey,  Anchippo- 
di(.'<  ripat'iiis, 

T.  A.  ('on  ..(I*  (losi-ribeil,  from  the  Miocene  of  llie  Atljinlie  coast, 
Voliitdid  ooi/ortni.s,  Pratnim  rifjlniann,  now  Afari/inelln  vinjinuinu, 
Merceiiarkt  cnnenta,  Vanjatia  p'tonenui,  Carditanieni  recta  ;  and  from 
Wyomin<^',  Goniohasin  carteri. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Marslif  described,  from  tlie  Tertiary  nt  Antelope  station, 
on  the  Union  Pacific  Uailroail,  450  miles  west  of  Omaha,  in  Nebraska, 
/'Jqinis  ptiroiUim,  now  I'rotoliippnti  jxtt'ou/its. 

The  Tertiary  nnderlics  a  wide  central  belt  in  West  Tennessee,  and 
was  snbdivideil  by  Prof.  Sallbrd,;);  in  1801),  in  ascending  oider,  into  1, 
Porters'  (Jroek  Gronp  ;  2,  Orange  Sand  ;  ;{,  Blutf  Lignite  ;  4,  Post- 
pliocene  beds,  on  the;  AIississip[)i  IJlnff,  consisting  of  Bhilf  gravel  and 
IJlulf  loam  ;  and  superficial  gravel  beds,  in  other  parts  of  the  State, 
consisting  of  ore-region  gravel,  eastern  gravel,  and  lastly  of  bottoms, 
and  alluvial  beds. 

The  IJluff  lignite  consists,  especially  in  the  middle  and  southern 
parts  of  the  State,  of  a  series  of  stratified  sands,  with  more  or  less 
sandy,  slaty  clay,  cluiracteri/ed  by  the  presence  of  well-marked  beds 
of  lignite;  though,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  its  upper  portion 
is  frequently  more  or  less  indurated,  presenting  la3'ers  of  soft  sand- 
stone with  less  lignite.  The  upper  part  of  the  series  is  generally  well 
exposed  below  the  gravel  of  the  Mississippi  BlufTs.  At  ^Memphis,  how- 
ever, it  scarcely  ai)peai's  above  low  water.  About  one  hundred  feet 
of  the  series  has  been  seen.  In  this  thickness  it  contains  from  one  to 
three  beds  of  lignite,  which  are  from  half  a  foot  to  four  feet  in 
thickness. 

The  outcrop  of  the  Orange  sand  or  Lagrange  Group,  forms  more 
than  a  third  of  the  entire  surface  of  West  Tennessee.  It  occupies  a 
belt,  about  40  miles  wide,  which  runs  in  a  northeasterly  direction, 
through  nearly  the  central  portion  of  this  division  of  the  State.  As 
seen  in  bluffs,  railroad  cuts,  gullies,  and  in  nearly  all  exposures,  it  is 
generally  a  great  stratified  mass  of  yellow,  orange,  red  or  brown,  and 
white  sands,  presenting  occasionally  an  interstratified  bed  of  white. 


*  Am.  Jour.  Conch.,  vol.  iv. 

t  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  &  Arts,  2d  scries,  vol.  xlvi. 

I  Geo.  of  Tenn. 


222 


Tertiary. 


Wr 


grey,  or  variegated  clay.  The  sand  beds  are  usually  more  or  loss 
argillaceous  ;  sometimes  but  little,  or  not  at  all  so.  Like  the  Ripley 
Group,  it  contains,  occasionall}^  patches,  plates,  and  thin  layeis  of 
ferruginous,  sometimes  argillaceous  sandstone,  and  as  in  that  group, 
presents,  locally,  massive  blocks  of  sandstone  on  high  points.  At 
La  Grange,  a  fine  section  of  the  group,  more  tliau  a  hundred  feet  in 
thickness,  is  exposed.  It  includes  within  its  outcrop,  nearly  all  of 
Fayette,  Haywood,  Madison,  Gibson,  and  Weakley  counties  ;  the 
larger  parts  of  Hardeman,  Carroll,  and  Henry  ;  and  small  parts  of 
Shelby,  Tipton,  Henderson,  Dyer,  and  Obion.  He  supposed  this 
group  to  be  of  Eocene  age,  and  to  have  a  thickness  of  about  600 
feet.  This  group  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  Post-pliocene 
Orange  sand  of  Hilgard,  which  occurs  in  Mississippi  and  Louisiana. 

Tlie  Porter's  Creek  Group  contains  proportionally  more  laminated  or 
slaty  clay  than  the  Orange  Sand  or  Lagrange  Group.  Along  the  Mem- 
phis and  Charleston  railroad,  the  belt  of  surface  occupied  by  the 
group  is  about  eight  miles  wide.  It  becomes  narrower  in  Its  north- 
ward extension,  and  appears  to  be  the  northern  extension  of  the  lower 
part  of  Hilgard's  Northern  Lignitic  Group.  The  thickness  is  from 
200  to  300  feet,  and  in  this  are  usually  several  beds  of  slaty  cla}'  from 
five  to  fifty  feet  in  thickness.  It  is  well  exposed  on  Porter's  creek,  in 
Hardem.ui  county,  and  on  the  road  from  Bolivar  to  Purdy,  commenc- 
ing about  seven  miles  from  the  former  place,  and  extending  to  or  be- 
yond NVade's  creek. 

Prof  E.  W.  Hilgard'*  described  the  Grand  Gulf  Group,  Orange 
Sand  and  Loess  at  Port  Hudson,  Miss.,  and  gave  a  descending  section 
midway  between  Port  Hudson  and  Fontania  as  follows:  1st,  Yellow 
loam,  sand}^  below,  8  to  10  feet.  2d,  White  and  yellow  hard  pan,  18 
feet.  IJd,  Orange  and  j-ellow  sand,  someiimes  ferruginous  sandstone, 
irregularl}'  stratified,  8  to  15  feet.  4th,  Heav^-,  greenish  or  bluish  clay, 
7  feet.  5th,  White,  indurate  silt  or  hard  pan,  18  feet.  6th,  Heavy, 
green  cla}',  with  porous,  calcareous  concretions  above,  ferruginous  ones 
below;  some  sticks  and  impressions  of  leaves,  30  feet.  7th,  Brown 
muck  and  white  or  blue  clay  with  cypress  stumps,  3  to  4  feet. 

At  tiiv  stage  of  extreme  low  water  the  stump  stratum  is  visible  to 
the  thickness  of  10  feet  at  its  highest  point;  showing  several  genera- 
tions of  stumps,  one  above  another,  also  the  remnants  of  many  succes- 
sive falls  of  leaves  and  overflows.     The  wood  is    in    a  good  state   of 


=•■•  Am.  Jour.  Sei.  v.  Arts,  2d  series,  vol.  xlvii. 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geolorjy  and  Paleontology, 


223 


preservation.  The  stump  stratum  exists,  at  about  the  same  level,  over 
all  the  Delta  plain  of  the  Missij:sippi  and  along  the  Grulf  coast  from 
Mobile,  on  the  east,  to  the  Sabine  river. 

Dr.  Joseph  Leidy*  described,  from  the  White  River  Group  of  Dakota, 
Oreodon  affinis,  O.  biillatus,  0.  hybrldini,  Leptanche/ua  nitida,  Homo- 
cameltis  caninus,  Cosoryx  furcatus,  Nanohyus  porcinus,  Protohippus 
placidus,  Hipparlon  affine,  and  H.  (jratum,  lie  described  from  the 
Eocene  near  Fort  Bridgor,  Wyoming,f  Oniomys  cartcrl,  Trionyx 
guttatus,  Emys  wyomingensis.  and  from  South  Bitter  creek,  near 
where  it  crosses  the  stage  route,  70  miles  west  of  the  summit  of 
the  Rocky  mountains,  in  western  Wyoming,  Crocodilus  apf.us. 

Prof.  E.  D.  Cope;];  described,  from  the  Miocene  of  Shiloh,  Cumber- 
land count^^  Now  Jersev,  Tretosphys  uvcens,  Zarhachis  velox,  and 
Trionyx  limn ;  from  the  mouth  of  the  Patuxcnt  river,  Maryland, 
Zarhachis  tysoni. 

He  described, §  from  the  Eocene  marl  pits,  at  Shark  river,  Monmouth 
county,  N.  J.,  Hemicaulodon.  effodicns;  from  Farmingdale,  3£yliobates 
glottoides,  and  Cmlorhynchus  aciis;  from  the  Green  River  Group,  on 
the  upper  waters  of  Green  river,  Wyoming,  Asineops  squamifrons, 
Glupea  pwiilla^  Cyprinodon  levntus;  from  the  Miocene  in  Wayne 
count}'.  North  Carolina,  Pnemnatosleiis  nahunticus;  from  Duplin 
county,  Pristis  attenuatus:  from  Edgecombe  county,  Eachrichtivs 
polyporus;  from  Quanky  creek,  Halifax  count}',  Mesoteras  kerranus; 
from  Stafford  county,  Va.,  Thinotherium  annulatmn. 

He  described,  from  the  Post-pliocene,  at  Savannah,  Georgia,  Anoplo- 
nassa  forcipata;  from  cave  Breccia,  in  Wythe  county,  Virginia,  Tainias 
IcBvidens,  Sciurus panolius,  and  Galera perdicida 

Prof.  0.  C.  Marsh II  described,  from  the  Eocene,  near  Shark  river, 
Monmouth  county,  New  Jersey,  Dinophis  grandis. 

T.  A.  Conrad^  described,  from  the  same  localit}',  Pecten  Icneiskerni, 
Crassatella  littoralis,  Crassina  veta,  Biicardia  vela,  Cnryatis  d  ,la- 
toarensis,  Protocardia  cnrta,  Onasfus  annosns,  and  Terebratula  glossa. 
And  from  the  Miocene  of  St.  Chai-les  count}',  Maryland,  and  from 
Petersburg,  Va.,  Pecten  cerinus,  Callista  virginiana,  Saxicava  insita, 
Scapharca  tenuicardo,  Mercenaria  plena,  and  Capsa  parilis. 


'■'  Jour.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  vol.  vii. 

f  Proo.  Acad.  Nat.  Scii. 

t  Proc.  Aoad.  Nat.  Sci. 

§  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc,  vol.  xi. 

II  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  &  Arts,  2d  series,  vol.  xlviii. 

IT  Am.  Jour.  Conchology,  vol.  v. 


224 


Tertidry. 


■  I 


W.  M.  Gabb*  described,  from  the  Miocene  in  Contra  Costa 
comity,  near  Tomales  ba}',  near  INIartinoz,  Walnut  creek,  Monterey 
county,  San  Emidio,  Cerros  island,  and  other  places  in  California, 
Dosinia  mntfiewsoiii,  Pecten  pdckkami,  Tn'ptera  clavdta,  Trophon 
2Jondero.suni^  JS^c/jtmiea  recurca,  3fetula  reiaondi,  Agasomd  yravicht, 
A.  slnnata,  liduella  mathewsoni,,  now  Bursa  iiidt.hetvsoni,  Cunid 
hiplicdtd,  Ancilldria  Jishi,  JS^everita  cdllosa,  Cdticelkiria  vetiistd, 
TurriteUd  hojfmduni,  Trochitd  Jilosd,  T.  tnorndtd,  Pachypoma 
bid)iguldtd,  Pandora  scapha,  Ileminidctrd  lenticnlaris,  H.  occiden- 
tdli's,  Schizodesmd  abscissa,  Chione  mathewsoni,  now  CalUsta 
mathewsonf,  0.  wh!f,ii.eyi,  now  C  whitneyi,  CalUsta  voy>\  Dosinia 
conradi,  Tapes  truncata,  Cardium  nieelcandin,  Conchocele  disjuncta, 
Mytilns  mathewsoni,  Modiold  viuUiradiata,  now  Volsella  multi- 
rddiata,  Pecten  cerrocensis,  P.  veatchi,  Ostrea  atwuodi,  0.  taylorana, 
O.  vedtchi,  O,  cerrocensis,  Aster  ids  remondi,  Ficus  pyriformis,  F. 
nodiferas,  Venus  pertemds.  From  the  fresh  water  Tertiary,  or  Plio- 
cene, on  Snake  river,  in  Idaiio  Territory-,  Mefania  taylori,  and 
Lithasia  antiqiia  ;  from  the  Pliocene,  near  Santa  Barbara,  Humboldt 
bay,  San  Francisco  county,  Kirker's  Pass,  Sonoma  county,  and  other 
places  in  California,  Cancer  hreweri,  Snrcidd  cdrpenterana,  Pleuro- 
soma  voyi,  Colnmbella  richthofeni,  Littorina  remondi,  Zirphaid 
dentatd,  Gdri  alata,  Dosinia  sfxtleyi,  now  'Jkipes  staleyi,  Cyrena 
cdlifornicd,  Lucind  richthofeni,  Neptunea  altispira,  iV.  hmnerosa, 
Siyavetus  planicostum,  Cancellarid  altispira,  Acmnia  riidi'i,  Siliqu- 
aria  edentula,  Caryatis  barbarensis,  Sdxidomns  f/ibbosiis.  And  from 
the  Post-pliocene,  near  Santa  Bitrbara,  and  San  Pedro,  SiircHla 
fryonana,  S.  perversa,  Clathurella  conradana,  Muricidea  paiicivari- 
catd,   Trophon  squdinnlifer^  Cancellarid  (jrdcilior,  and  C.  tritonided. 

Prof.  Leo.  Lesquereuxf  described, from  the  Lower  Eocene  or  Northern 
Lignitic  Group  of  Tippah,  Miss.,  and  La  Grange,  and  Sommerville, 
Tennessee,  Cdhirnopsis  dandi,  Sabal  yrayana,  now  Sabalites  yrayanus, 
Salisburia  binervata,  Popidus  monodon,  SdUx  wortlteni,  S.  tdbellaris, 
Qaercus  moori,  Q.  retrdctd,  Celtis  brev/foUd,  Ficus  schimperi,  F.  cin- 
namonioides,  Ldurus  peddtiis,  Cinndmomum  mississippiense,  Persea 
lancifolia,  Ceanothus  meiysi,  Juyldns  appressd,  J.  saffordana,  Mag- 
nolia laurifolid,  M.  Lesley dna,  M,  oralis,  M.  cor dif olid,  Asimina 
leiocarpa,  and  Phyllites  truncatus. 


*  Pal.ofCal.,  vol.ii. 

t  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soo.,  vol.  xiii. 


Mesonoic  and  Coniozoic  Geolot/y  and  Pahvant oingy. 


225 


Oswald  Heer*  described,  from  the  Tertiary  of  Alaska,  Pterin  sitken- 
sis,  Taxodinm  tinajortini,  Taxites  mi.crophijllus,  Pliragmites  alaskanun, 
Poacites  tenui'striatus.  Carex  servata,  Sagittaria  palchella^  Vacciniiim 
frie)i\  Di'ospy  ros  stenosepala,  Vihvrnnm  nordenslcioldi,  Redera  avri- 
culatn,  Vitis  crenatn,  Tilia  alaskana,  celasfrvs  horealis.  Ilex  insuj- 
nis,  Traj)a  horealis,  Jmjlans  nigella,  J.  picroides,  Spiraea  andersoni, 
and  identified  numerous  plants  with  those  described  from  the  iSliocone 
of  Europe.  lie  described  the  insect  CJir;/somelites  alaskanus,  and  Dr. 
Carohis  JMayer  described,  Unio  ona-'otis,  U.  athlios,  Paludina  abavia^ 
and  Melaniafuruhjelml. 

The  Jackson  Group,  in  Louisiana,!  consists  of  marine  strata;  of  lig- 
nitic  beds  that  tell  of  swamps;  and  of  noufossilifcrous  beds  of  lamin- 
ated sands  and  clays.  It  spreads  over  the  State  north  of  the  Vicks- 
burg  outcrop  and  west  of  the  Bastrop  Hills.  The  marine  strata  con- 
tain massive  clays,  often  full  of  selenite.  At  Grand  View  there  is  a 
stratum  of  such  clay  85  feet  thick. 

The  Vicksburg  Group,  in  Louisiana,  consists  of  smooth,  yellow  and 
red  clays,  with  a  very  small  proportion  of  sand.  Limestone  no- 
dules occur,  generally,  soft  and  yellow,  but  sometimes  liard  and  white, 
and  always  full  of  casts  of  shells.  It  is  exposed  from  Godwin's  shoals 
to  about  six  miles  south  of  Natchitoches,  and  from  a  point  below 
Montgomery  to  the  Washita,  below  Grand  View,  but  it  never  occupies 
an  area  more  than  about  twelve  miles  wide. 

In  1870,  Dr.  Joseph  Loidy;];  descrilied,  from  the  Fort  Bridger  Eocene, 
of  Wyoming,  liaptemiis  logomingensis,  now  Dcrmatemys  wyoming- 
ensis,  Emys  stevensonnnus,  Palriofelis  ulta,  Lophiodon  modestns, 
Ilyopsodus  2iatiJus,Umys  jeansi.  E.  haydeni,  Baena  arenosa,  Saniva 
ensidens  ;  from  near  the  junction  of  the  liig  Sand}'  and  Green 
rivers,  Palmosyops  paludosus,  Crocodilns  elliotti ;  from  Black's 
Fork,  Microsus  cuspidatus,  NofharoAns  tcnebrosus ;  from  the 
T'ltiary  of  Colorado,  Megacerops  aoloradoennis  ;  from  the  Tertiary 
.^r  ttie  Rocky  mountain  region,  Oncot)afis  pentagon  its,  Mylocy- 
prinufi  robustiis  ;  from  Henry's  Fork  of  Green  river,  Lophiotheriuni 
syli-aticmn  ;  from  the  Miocene  in  the  valley  of  Bridge  creek,  a  tributary 
of  John  Day's  river.  Oregon,  Oreodon  s'lfperbns,  Jnchitheriinn  condoni  ; 
from  Gay  Head,  Martha's  Vineyard,  Graphiodon  vinearius  ;  from  the 


*  Flora  Fossilia  Alaskana. 
T  Goo.  of  Louisiana,  1870. 
t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 


226 


Tertiary. 


'  \ 


Pliocene  of  the  Niobrara  river,  3Ierychoch(erus  rusticus  ;  from  Dry 
creek,  Stanislaus  county,  California,  Mastodon  shepardi ;  and  from 
Tuolumne  county,  Anchenia  cnlifornico. 

Prof.  O.  0.  Marsh*  (lescril)O(l,  from  the  Eocene  of  New  Jersey,  The- 
cachainpsn  minor;  from  the  Miocene  of  Edgecombe  county,  North  Car 
olina,t  Cnfarrnctes  antiqaus;  from  Maryland,  Pufflnus  conradi;  from 
the  Niobrara  river,  Grns  haydeni,  Graculus  idahensis;  from  Squan- 
kum.  New  Jersey,;J;  Uhinoceros  matuti'nn.i;  from  Shark  river,  Dicotyles 
(i.ntiqnun;  and  from  the  Pliocene  at  Monmoutli,  Meleacjris  alttis. 

Prof.  F.  B.  Meek  described,  fi'om  the  Miocene,  at  F'ossil  Hill,  Hot 
Spring  mountains,  Idaho,  Spharium  rirgosum,  S.  idahoense,  Ancyius 
unduIatKS,  Ooniohasis  sculptilis^  O.  subsculptilis,  Carinifex  hinneyl,  C. 
concava  and  C  tryoni. 

T.  A.  Conrad§  described,  from  the  Miocene  of  Virginia  and  South 
Carolina,  Artena  inididata^  Crepidula  rostrata,  G.  recurvirostra,  C. 
virflinica,  Persictda  ovula,  and  Axinwa  bella. 

The  Grand  Gulf  Group  of  Louisiana!  consists  of  nonfossiliferous 
cla3's  and  sandstones  pretty  regularly  stratified,  A^aried,  occasionally,  by 
claj'e}-  sand  and  beds  containing  twigs  and  leaves.  The  sandstone  oc- 
curs in  ledges  from  six  inches  to  20  feet  in  thickness.  It  is  cut  into 
four  parts  by  the  bluff  and  the  alluvion  of  Red  river  and  the  Missis- 
sippi. One  reaches  the  Vicksburg  area  and  extends  into  Missis- 
sippi; another  is  southwest  of  Red  river  and  extends  into  Texas;  an- 
other is  northeast  of  Red  river  as  far  as  Sicily  Island  on  the  Ouachita; 
and  the  other  is  at  the  western  part  of  the  Avoyelles  prairies. 

In  1871,  T.  A.  Conrad*[  described,  from  the  Eocene  a.t  Claiborne, 
Alabama,  Garyatis  exigaa ;  and  from  the  Oligocene  at  Vicksburg, 
Mississippi,  Macoma  snblintea,  and  Abra  protexta. 

F,  B,  Meek**  described,  from  the  Bridger  Eocene  at  Henry's  Fork, 
Black's  Fork,  and  Church  buttes,  Wyoming,  Viviparus  loyomingensis. 

Brady  and  Crosskeyff  described,  from  the  Post  pliocene  of  Port- 
land and  Saco,  Maine,  and  from  INIontreal,  Canada,  Gythere  mac- 
cJiesney/',  G.  loyani,  G.  cuspidata,  Gytherura  crisfata,  G.  gninidosa^ 
and  Gytheropteron  complnnatiDn. 

*  Am,  Jour.  Sci.  aiul  Arts,  id  seriL-s,  vol.  50. 

f  Ibid,  vol.  xUx. 

I  Proc.  AcaU.  Nat.  Sci. 

$  Am.  .Tour.  Conch.,  vol.  vi. 

li  Geo.  of  Lou.,  1871. 

IT  Am.  .Jour.  Conch.,  vol.  vi. 

*'••  Proc.  Acad.  \at.  Sel. 

tf  Loud.  Geo.  Mag.,  vol.  viii. 


Mesozoic  and  Coinozoic  Geology  and  Palaontology. 


227 


Dr.  Joseph  Leidy*  described,  from  the  Bridger  Eocene  of  Wyoming, 
Anostcira  ornata,  Hybemys  arenarius,  Testudo  corsoni^  Emys  carteri, 
Baena  undata,  Troyosus  vetulus,  now  Anchippodiis  vetulus,  Sinopa 
rapax,  Paluiosyops  major,  Hyrachyus  eximius,  Paramys  delicatus,  P. 
delicatior,  and  P.  delieatittsimus,  all  now  Plesiarclomys,  and  Mysops 
minimus.  He  described  from  the  Miocene  of  Alkali  flats,  Oregon, 
Bhinocerns  pacijicus.^  and  from  Crooived  river,  Stylemys  oregonensis, 
now  Testudo  oregonensis.  * 

Prof.  E,  D.  Copef  described,  from  the  Post-pliocene  occurring  in  a 
limestone  fissure  in  Cliester  county,  Penns\'lvania,  Megalonyxloxodon, 
M.  sphenodon,  M.  tortulus,  M.  wheatleyi,  Sciurus  calycinus,  Arvicola 
speothen,  A.  tetradelta^  A.  didelta,  A.  involuta,  A.  sigmodus,  A.hiati- 
dens,  Erithizon  cloaciiiiim,  and  Praofkeriumpalatinum.  He  described 
from  the  Miocene  near  Tuxtla,  Chiapas,  Mexico,  Prymnetes  longiven- 
ter. 

Prof.  O.  C.  MarshJ  described,  from  the  Green  river  basin  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  Boavus  agilis,  B.  brevis,  and  B.  occideatalis;  from 
the  Bridger  Eocene  of  Wyoming,  Limnophis  crassus,  Lithophis  sar- 
yenti,  Crocodilus  affinis,  G.  brevicollis,  C,  grinnelli,  C.  liodon,  C.  zipho- 
don,  now  Limnosaurus  ziphodon,  Qlyptosaurus  anceps,  G.  nodosus,  G. 
ocellatus,  G.  sylvestris,  Titanothcrium  (?)  anceps,  Lophiodon  affinis,  L. 
bairdianus,  L.  nanus,  L.  ijumilis.  Anchitheriam  gracile,  now  (  ?)  Orohip- 
pus  gracilis,  Lophiotherium  ballardi,  Elotherium  lentum^  Platygonus 
ziegleri^  Hyopsodus  gracilis,  Limnotherium  elegans,  L.  tyrannus,  Sci- 
uravus  nitidus,  S.  parvidens,  S.  undans,  Triacodonjallax,  Canis  mon- 
tanus,  Vulpavus  palustris,  and  Bubo  leptosteus. 

He  described  from  the  Miocene  at  Scott  s  Bluff,  on  North  Platte 
river,  Nebraska,  Amphicyon  angustidens;  from  Northern  Colorado, 
Meleagris  antiquus;  from  Cumberland  count^^  New  Jersey.g  Lophio- 
don validus,  now  Tapiravus  validus;  and  named,  but  did  not  describe, 
from  W^'oming,  Aniia  depressa,  A.  newberryana,  Lepidosteus  glaber, 
and  L.  whitneyi.  Also  from  the  Pliocene  sands,  near  the  headwaters 
of  the  Loup  Fork  river,  Nebraska,  (||)  Platygonus  striatus,  Arctomys 
vetus,  Geomys  bisulcatus,  Aquila  dananus;  and  from  Oregon,  Platy- 
gonus condoni,  and   Dicotyles  hesperius. 


*  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 

+  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc,  vol.  xii. 

t  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  3d  series,  vol.  i.  <fe  ii. 

$  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 

(II)  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  3d  series,  vol.  ii. 


228 


Tertiary , 


In  1872,  Dr.  Dawson*  said,  that  the  Bowlder  clay  of  Canada  con- 
sists of  hard,  gray  clay,  filled  with  stones,  and  thickly  packed  with 
bowlders,  and  usually  rests  directly  on  striated  rock  surfaces  ;  though 
in  Cape  Breton,  a  peaty  or  brown  coal  deposit,  with  'jranches  of  trees, 
has  been  found  to  underlie  it,  and  in  some  places  there  are  deposits  of 
rolled  gravel  beneath  it.  The  stones  are  often  scratched  and  ground 
into  wedge-shapes,  as  if  by  the  action  of  ice.  At  Isle  Verte,  Riviere 
du  Loup,  Murray  Bay,  Quebec,  and  St.  Nicholas,  on  the  St.  Lawrence 
it  is  fossilferous,  containing,  Leda  tritncata,  Balanus  hameri,  and 
Bryozoa. 

In  some  localities  the  stones  in  the  Bowlder  clay,  are  almost  exclu- 
sively those  of  the  neighboring  rock  formations,  in  others  those 
having  traveled  from  a  distance  predominate  ;  occasional  instances 
occur  where  bowlders  have  been  transported  to  the  northward. 
Though  the  Bowlder  clay  often  presents  a  somewhat  widel^y  extended 
and  uniform  sheet,  yet  it  may  be  stated  to  fill  up  small  valleys  or 
depressions,  and  to  be  thin  or  absent  on  ridges  and  rising  grounds. 

Beneath  the  Bowlder  clay  on  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Ottawa,  there 
are  two  sets  of  stria?,  a  southeast  set,  and  a  southwest  set.  In  Nova 
Scotia  and  New  Brunswick,  as  in  New  England,  the  prevailing  direc- 
tion is  southeastward,  though  there  are  also  southwest  and  south 
striation,  and  a  few  cases  where  the  direction  is  nearly  east  and  west. 
At  the  Mile  end  quarries,  near  Montreal,  the  polished  and  grooved 
surface  of  the  limestone,  shows  four  sets  of  striae.  The  principal  ones 
have  the  direction  of  S.  68°  W.  and  S.  60°  W.  respectively,  and  the 
second  of  these  sets  is  the  stronger  and  coarser,  and  sometimes  oblit- 
erates the  first.  The  two  other  sets  are  comparatively  few  and  feeble 
striiB,  one  set  running  nearly  north  and  south,  and  the  other  northwest 
and  southeast.  These  last  are  probably  newer  than  the  first  two  sets. 
The  locality  is  to  the  northeast  of  the  mass  of  trap  constituting  the 
Montreal  mountain,  and  e^'ince^  that  the  movement  must  have  been  up 
the  St.  Lawrence,  which  is  the  dominant  direction  of  the  strife  in  this 
valley.  It  is  the  Bowlder  clay  connected  with  this  S.  W.  striation, 
that  is  rich  in  marine  fossils. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Saguenaj-,  near  Moulin  Bode,  are  striae  and 
grooves  on  a  magnificent  scale,  some  of  the  latter  being  ten  feet  wide, 
and  four  feet  deep,  cut  into  hard  gneiss.  Their  course  is  N.  10°  W. 
to  N.  20°  W.  magnetic,  or  N.  30°  to  40°  W.  when  referred  to  the  true 


*  Post-pl'ocene  Geol. 


Mesozolc  and  Ceenozoic  Geology  and  Palaontology, 


229 


meridhm.  In  the  same  region,  on  hills  300  feet  high,  are  roehes 
moutonnees  with  their  smoothest  faces  pointing  in  the  same  direction, 
or  to  the  northwest.  This  direction  is  that  of  the  valley  or  gorge  of 
the  Saguenay,  which  enters  nearly  at  right  angles  the  valley  of  the 
St.  Lawrence. 

In  like  manner  at  Murray'  Bay,  there  are  strise  on  the  Silnrian  lime- 
stones near  Point  an  Pique,  which  run  about  N.  45°  W.,  but  these 
are  crossed  bj-  another  set  having  a  course  S.  30°  W.,  so  that  we 
have  two  sets  of  markings,  the  one  pointing  upward  along  the  deep 
valley  of  Murraj'  Bay  river  to  the  Laurentide  hills  inland,  the  other 
following  the  general  trend  of  the  St.  Lawrence  valle}'.  The  Bowlder 
clay  which  rests  on  these  striated  surfaces,  is  a  dark-colored  till,  full 
of  Laurentian  bowhlers,  and  holding  Leda  friincata,  and  also  Bryozoa 
clinging  to  some  of  the  bowlders.  In  ascending  the  Murraj-  Bay  river, 
we  find  these  bowlder  beds  surmounted  by  ver}-^  thick,  stratified  clays, 
with  marine  shells,  which  extend  upward  to  an  elevation  of  about  800 
feet,  when  tlie^'  give  place  to  loose  bowlders  and  unstratifled  drift. 

The  Bowlder  clay  over  a  large  portion  of  the  plain  of  Lower  Canada 
is  succeeded  by  the  Leda  clay,  which  varies  in  thickness  from  a  few 
feet  to  50  or  perhaps  100  feet.  The  material  of  the  Leda  cla}'  is  of 
the  same  nature  as  the  finer  portion  of  the  paste  of  the  Bowlder  clay, 
and  the  latter  seems  to  graduate  into  the  former.  It  sometimes  holds 
hard,  calcareous  concretions,  which,  as  at  Green's  creek,  on  the  Ottawa, 
are  occasionally  richly  fossiliferous.  When  dried,  the  Leda  clay  be- 
comes of  ston}^  hardness,  and  when  burned,  it  fissumes  a  brick  red  col- 
or. When  dried  and  levigated,  it  nearly  always  affords  some  foramin- 
ifera  and  shells  of  ostracoids;  and  in  this,  as  tvell  as  in  its  color  and 
texture,  it  closely  resembles  the  blue  mud  now  in  process  of  deposition 
in  the  deeper  parts  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  It  extends  west  to 
where  the  Laurentian  ridge  of  the  Thousand  Islands  crosses  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  where  the  same  rocks  cross  the  Ottawa,  and  in  gen- 
eral may  be  said  to  be  limited  to  the  Lower  Silurian  plain,  and  not  to 
mount  up  the  Laurentian  and  metamorphic  hills  bounding  it. 

The  Saxicava  sand  sometimes  rests  upon  the  Leda  clay,  sometimes 
upon  Bowlder  clay,  and  often  on  the  older  rocks.  In  some  instances 
the  surface  of  the  Leda  claj'^  has  been  denuded  and  cut  into  deep 
trenches,  and  the  sand  rests  abruptly  upon  it;  in  other  cases  there  is  a 
transition  from  one  deposit  to  the  other,  the  claj'  becoming  sandy  and 
gradually  passing  upward  into  pure  sand.  It  must  have  been  origin- 
ally a  marginal  and  bank  deposit,  depending  much  for  its  distribution 


230 


Tertiary. 


on  tho  movement  of  tides  and  currents.  In  some  Instances,  as  at  Cote 
des  Neiges,  near  Montreal,  and  on  the  terraces  on  the  Lower  St.  Law- 
rence, it  is  obviously  merely  a  shore  sand  and  gravel,  like  that  of  tlie 
modern  beach. 

The  terraces  and  inland  soa  cliffs  have  been  formed  by  the  same 
recession  of  the  sea  which  produced  the  Saxicava  sand.  At  Montreal, 
where  the  isolated  mass  of  trap,  flanked  with  Lower  Silurian  beds, 
constituting  Mount  Royal,  forms  a  great  tide-gauge  for  the  recession 
of  the  Post-pliocene  sea,  there  are  four  principal  sea  margins,  with 
several  others  less  distinctl.y  marked.  The  lowest  of  these,  at  a  level 
of  120  feet  above  the  sea,  correspcmds,  in  general,  with  the  level  of  tLa 
great  plain  of  Leda  clay  in  this  part  of  Canada.  On  this  terrace,  in 
many  places,  the  Saxicava  sand  forms  the  surface,  and  the  Leda  clay 
and  Bowlder  clay  may  be  seen  beneath  it.  Another  at  520  feet  in 
height  furnishes  Saxicava  sand  resting  on  Bowlder  clay.  Three  other 
terraces  occur  at  heights  of  386,  440  and  470  feet,  and  the  latter  has, 
at  one  place,  above  the  village  of  Cote  des  Neiges,  a  beach  of  sand  and 
gravel,  with  Saxicava  and  other  shells.  Even  on  the  .op  of  the 
mountain,  at  a  height  of  about  700  feet,  large  traveled  Laurentian 
bowlders  occur. 

The  prevalent  Post-pliocene  deposit  on  Prince  Edward  Island  i";  a 
Bowlder  clay,  or  in  some  places  bowlder  loam,  composed  of  red  sand- 
stones. This  is  filled  with  more  or  less  rounded  and  striated  bowlders 
of  red  sandstone,  derived  from  the  harder  beds  of  the  island.  At 
Campbellton,  however,  in  the  western  part  of  the  island,  a  bed  of  Bowl- 
der clay  is  found  filled  with  bowlders  of  metamorphic  rocks,  similar  to 
those  of  the  mainland  of  New  Brunswick.  Striae  on  the  northeastern 
coast  of  the  island  have  a  direction  S.  W.  and  N.E.  ;  and  on  the  south- 
western coast  S.  70°  PI 

At  Campbellton,  in  the  sand  and  gravel  above  the  Bowlder  clay, 
Tellina  greenlandica  occurs,  at  an  elevation  of  about  50  feet  above  the 
sea.  On  the  surface  of  the  country,  there  are  numerous  traveled 
bowlders.  Those  of  granite,  syenite,  diorite,  felsite,  porphry,  quartzite 
and  coarse  slates  are  identical,  in  mineral  character,  with  those  which 
occur  in  the  metamorphic  districts  of  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick, 
at  distances  from  50  to  200  miles  to  the  south  and  southwest;  though 
some  of  them  may  have  been  derived  from  Cape  Breton  on  the  East. 
Those  of  gneiss,  hornblende  schist,  anorthosite  and  labradorite  rock 
must  have  been  derived  from  the  Laurentian  rocks  of  Labrador  and 
Canada,  distant  250  miles  or  more  to  the  northward. 


Mesozofc  and  Gopnozoic  Geology  and  Paln'ontoloyy. 


231 


In  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick  tlie  Bowlder  clay  or  unstratilied 
drift  varies  from  a  stiff  clay  to  loose  sand,  and  its  composition  and 
color  generally  depend  upon  those  of  the  underlying  and  neighboring 
rocks.  Thus  over  sandstone  it  is  arenaceous;  over  shales,  argillaceous; 
and  over  conglomerates  and  hard  slates,  pebbly  or  shingly.  The  great- 
er part  of  the  stones  contained  in  the  drift  are,  like  the  paste  containing 
them,  derived  from  the  neighboring  formations;  though,  in  some  in- 
stances, they  have  been  transported  from  a  distance.  The  transported 
bowlders  have  generally  been  drifted  southward,  though  some  have 
been  carried  northward,  and  others  in  different  directions.  They  have 
especially  been  drifted  from  the  more  elevated  and  rocky  districts  to 
the  lower  grounds  in  their  vicinit}-.  The  strijB  upon  the  rocks  vary 
from  north  and  south  to  east  and  west,  though  there  is  a  general  ten- 
dency to  a  southern  and  southeastern  course. 

Alfred  R.  C.  Selwyn*  found  many  tine  examples  of  ice-grooves  and 
scratches  on  the  rocky  shores  of  Vancouver's  Island,  where  they 
occur  in  different  directions,  and  sometimes  nearly  at  right  angles  to 
each  other.  Ho  quoted,  with  approval,  the  statement  of  Prof.  J.  D. 
Whitney,  that  northern  drift  does  not  occur  in  California,  and  that  no 
evidence  of  its  occurrence  has  yet  been  detected  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
as  far  north  as  British  Columbia  and  Alaska.  This  conclusion  having 
been  arrived  at  on  the  authority  of  Mr.  W.  D.  Dall,  naturalist,  attached 
to  the  Collin's  Overland  Telegraph  Company,  and  who  states  that 
though  he  had  carefully  examined  the  country  over  which  he  had 
passed,  in  Alaska,  for  glacial  indications,  he  had  not  found  any  effects 
attributable  to  such  agencies  ;  and  that  no  bowlders,  no  scratches,  or 
other  marks  of  ice  action  had  been  observed  by  any  of  his  party, 
though  carefull}'  sought  for.  And  that  inland,  neither  Mr.  Selwyn  nor 
his  assistant  Mr.  Richardson  observed  any. 

That  the  superficial  deposits  of  British  Columbia  are  chiefly  de- 
veloped in  the  ancient  terraces  or  benches,  which,  throughout  the  coun- 
tr}',  are  wonderfully  regular  and  persistent,  occuring  from  the  coast  up 
to  elevations  of  nearly  4,000  feet,  in  the  passes  of  the  Rockj-  mountains. 
They  give  a  marked  and  peculiar  character  to  the  scenery  of  the  river 
valleys,  rising  like  gigantic  stairs,  to  elevations  of  sometimes  more  than 
four  hundred  feet  above  the  adjoining  river  or  lake.  In  some  places 
two,  three,  four  and  five  distinct  steps  can  be  seen  ;  while  often  they 
have  either  become  merged  into  one  by  subsequent  denuding  agencies, 


*  Geo.  Sur.  of  Canada. 


2:{2 


Tertiary. 


or  else  the  precipitous  cliaracter  of  tl»e  side  of  the  viiUey  Ims  altoj^etliei 
prevented  their  formation.  The  steps  vary  greatly  in  lieight,  tlie 
•greatest  height  observed  being  as  much  as  one  liundred  feet  ;  in  widtli, 
from  one  to  five  chains  is  not  uncommon. 

Nearly  all  the  lakes  in  British  Columbia  occup\'  long,  narrow  de 
pressions  in  the  river  valleys,  and  are,  in  fact,  lake-like  expansions  of 
the  rivers.  There  is  no  doubt  that  such  lakes  were  at  one  time  much 
more  extended  and  more  numerous  than  they  now  are  ;  and  that,  in 
many  places,  as,  for  instance,  at  Lytton,  and  on  the  north  bend  of  the 
Thompson,  and  at  Canoe  river  crossing,  the  terraces  mark  the  old 
margins  of  these  lakes,  while  in  others  they  doubtless  represent  only 
the  ordinary  flood-flats  of  the  rivers.  The  removal  of  the  rocky  bar- 
riers by  which  these  inland  waters  were  confined  would  result  in  the 
formation  of  such  gorges  and  canons  as  we  now  find  on  the  Fraser  at 
Gale,  and  below  Lj  tton,  as  well  as  on  the  North  Thompson  at  Murchi- 
son's  Rapids,  and  on  Canoe  river  below  the  wide  flats  at  the  crossing, 
and  would,  without  any  general  movement  of  elevation,  drain  off  the 
waters  of  the  lakes,  leaA'ing  the  old  shore  lines  exactly  as  we  now  see 
them,  at  corresponding  heights  on  both  sides  of  the  valle3's.  Ordinary 
alluvial  river  flats  do  not  commonly  occur  in  that  manner,  but  where 
a  flat  occurs  on  one  side  there  is  usually  a  steep  bank  on  the  other, 
and  especially  is  this  so  along  rapid  rivers  which  traverse  a  mountain- 
ous country. 

Dr.  F.  V.  Hayden*  said,  that  Fort  Bridger  is  located  in  what  appears 
to  the  ej'c  a  sort  of  basin,  inclosed  by  high,  arid  table  lands,  but  reall}' 
in  a  central  portion  of  the  drainage  of  Black's  Fork.  The  beautiful 
valleys.  Smith's,  Black's,  and  Muddy,  have  been  carved  out  of  the 
horizontal  strata,  and  between  the  streams  are  terraces  and  flat  table 
lands,  which  give  a  singuUr  outline  to  the  surface  of  the  country. 
No  forces  now  in  operation,  in  this  vicinity,  could  have  given  the  ex- 
isting features  to  the  surface  of  the  country,  and  the  cause  must  have 
been  local,  proceeding  from  the  northern  slope  of  the  Uintas.  The 
beautiful  table-top  divides  between  the  valle3's,  and  strean-.s  are  exten- 
sions into  the  plains  of  the  radiating  ridges  of  the  mountain  slope,  and 
are  literally  paved,  in  many  places,  with  the  water-worn  bowlders 
of  the  purplish  sandstones  and  quartzites,  and  with  the  carbon- 
iferous limestones  that  compose  the  nucleus  of  the  Uinta  range.  Here 
and  there  we  can  see  a  flat-topped  butte  cut  ofl"  by  erosion  from  some 
of  the  intervening  ridges,  and  rising  above  the  surrounding  country  as 


*  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  of  Wyoming. 


Mesozoir.  and  CcBttozoia  Geology  ntid  Pnloiontolngy. 


233 


H  partial  witnoss  to  the  extent  of  the  denudjition.  A  little  south  oi 
west  of  Fort  Britly;er,  is  an  isolated  bntte  called  Rridger's  lintte,  whieh 
forms  a  prominent  land  mark  to  the  traveler,  and  aeeordiny  to  the 
barometer,  rises  750  feet  above  the  valley  of  Bhiek's  Fork,  at  the  fort. 
The  summit  appears  perfectly  level,  and  was  estimated  to  be  about  two 
miles  in  length,  from  north  to  south,  and  about  a  fourth  of  a  mile  in 
width,  from  east  to  west.  The  upper  portion  of  the  butte  is  composed 
of  the  somber,  brown,  indurated,  arenaceous  cla^'s,  gray  and  rusty 
brown  sandstones  of  the  Bridgcr  Group,  passing  down  into  limestones 
and  marls  of  the  Green  river  beds.  In  the  brown  clays  are  abund- 
ant remains  of  turtles,  with  a  few  fragments  of  other  vertebrate  re- 
mains. The  terraces  along  the  valley  of  Black's  Fork,  are  composed  of 
yellowish  and  whiteish  gray  marls,  and  chalky  limestones,  some  of  the 
layers  mostly  formed  of  Unto,  and  other  fresh-water  shells.  A  few 
plants  were  found  in  the  valley  of  Smith's  Fork,  in  thin  black,  flinty 
layers,  mostl}-  ferns  and  leaves  of  deciduous  trees.  Between  Fort 
Bridger  and  Henry's  Fork,  the  indurated,  arenaceous  cla^s,  of  the 
Bridger  Group,  are  weathered  into  remarkably  unique  forms.  The 
absence  of  harder  la3ers  of  sandstone  did  not  admit  of  the  weathering 
into  pinnacles,  turrets,  steeples,  domes,  etc.,  as  observed  near  Church 
Buttes.  The  surface,  though  very  rugged  and  almost  impassable,  ex- 
cept along  the  valleys  of  the  streams,  is  much  more  rounded  ;  the  hills 
are  more  dome  or  pyramid  shaped,  and  entirely  destitute  of  vegetation, 
except  the  sage,  and  several  varieties  of  chenopodiaceous  shrubs. 
Passing  up  the  Cottonwood  Fork,  the  marls  and  limestones  make  their 
appearance,  for  a  short  distance,  in  the  bluffs.  The  divide  between 
the  drainage  of  Smith's  Fork  and  Heurv's  Fork,  is  a  high  ridge  of  the 
leaden-brown  clays  of  the  Bridger  Group,  which  extends  up  and  juts 
against  the  base  of  the  Uinta  mountains. 

From  this  ridge  to  Green  river,  the  valley  of  Henry's  Fork  forms  a 
remarkable  line  of  separation  between  the  Bridger  Group  and  the  lower 
beds.  This  line  of  separation  is  somewhat  of  a  surface  one,  yet  it  is  so 
marked  as  to  attract  the  attention  of  the  commonest  observer.  The 
valley  is  quite  broad,  and  on  the  south  side  the  surface  of  the  country 
to  the  summits  of  the  mountains  appear  smoothed  downward,  in  part 
grassed  over.  A  close  examination  will  detect  some  thin  remnants  of 
the  Bridger  Group  underlaid  by  lower  Tertiary  beds,  which  have  a 
tendenc}'  to  weather  into  rounded,  gently-sloping  hills.  On  the  north 
side,  the  arid,  rugged,  "  bad  lands*'  are  very  conspicuous,  and  rise  up 
somewhat  abruptly  like  a  high  wall.  On  the  north  side  of  the  creek, 
there  is  a  great  thickness  of  the  indurated  claj-s  of  the  Bridger  Group. 


w 


234 


TcrUiiry . 


M 


There  socms  to  bo  no  unconformability  of  the  beds  iiu-hidod  in  this 
Group,  and  the  difrereiit  beds  puss  from  one  to  the  other  <rrii(bi;illy  ; 
but  to  the  h'liden-j^ray,  somber,  imbiriited,  arenaeeous  days,  which 
cover  a  hir^e  area  east  of  Fort  IJridj^er,  and  weather  into  sueh  unicpic 
arehitectural  forms,  and  contain  a  iar<^e  variety  of  vcn'tebrjite  remains. 
Dr.  Ilayden  gave  the  provisional  name  of  the  "  Iiriil<»er  (irou[)."  Tlu- 
caleareouH  hiyers  which  nn(UM-lle  the  Bridger  Gronp,  nnd  are  so  well 
displayed  lower  down  on  Henry's  Fork,  lie  referred  to  the  "Green  river 
Group."  Intercalated  with  the  clays  of  the  IJridjier  Group  are  beds  of 
rusty-brown  and  gray  sandstones,  all  tending  to  a  concretionary  struc 
turo,  and  disintegrating  by  exfoliation  in  thin  concentric  layers. 
Sometimes  there  arc  beds  of  sandstone  which  form  an  aggregate  of 
concretions.  In  the  whole  mass,  arenaceous  materials  predominate. 
As  we  descend,  the  calcareous  sediments  prevail,  until  chalk}-  lime- 
stones and  marl  are  greatly  in  excess. 

The  Green  River  Group  is  seen  to  tlie  best  advantage  along  the 
valley  of  Green  river,  where  the  sides  of  the  bluff  blanks  rise  to  a  per- 
pendicular height  of  500  feet  or  more.  Ten  miles  east  of  Green  river 
Station,  the  Green  River  Group  disappears  abruptly  on  the  south  side 
of  Bitter  creek,  and  the  coal  formations  come  up  to  view.  On  the  north 
side,  the  eastern  limit  of  the  Green  River  Group  is  most  sharply  marke  " 
by  a  long,  high,  white  bluff,  that  extends  off,  far  to  the  northe 
toward  the  South  Pass. 

The  dip  varies  from  3°  to  5°,  and  the  laminated  calcareous  shales 
gradually  pass  down  into  yellow,  gray,  and  brown  indurated  arenaceous 
cla^s,  sands,  and  sandstones,  until  the  well-defined  coal  strata  are  ex- 
posed, without  the  least  appearance  of  discordancy. 

In  traveling  from  Bear  river  to  Great  Salt  Lake  valley,  soon  after 
leaving  Carter  station,  toward  the  west,  pinkish  Tertiary  beds  are  ob- 
served. They  seem  to  rise  from  beneath  the  Bridger  Group.  Their 
dip  is  about  northeast  3°  to  5°,  and  they  have  evidently  been  disturbed 
slightly  b3"  the  later  movements  which  elevated  the  Uinta  range.  They 
are  composed  of  red,  indurated,  arenaceous  cla3s,  with  beds  of  grayish 
and  reddish-gray  sandstones  alternating;  and  for  this  series  of  strata 
Dr.  Hayden  proposed  the  name  of  the  "Wasatch  Group."  Pinkish  and 
purplish  clays  are  the  dominant  features,  and  give  the  lithological 
character  of  the  group  as  far  west  as  Echo  canon,  when  the  conglom- 
erates prevail.  The  latter  is  full  of  beds  of  sandstone,  largel}'  concretion- 
ar}',  but  the  sandstones  or  harder  layei's  are  seldom  of  a  reddish  color. 


Mcnozoic  I'lnf  ('atnozoic  Cfeofoifi/  tind   I'ala'ontohit/tf.  '2',\'t 


Mt'toic  li'iu'liiiij^  liridiii!!'  stiitidu  llic  sliala  on  ritlu!!'  shW.  id"  llic 
nind  are  liorizontjil,  or  nearly  «<>.  A  lonjj;,  lint  riiljio  ('XtciidH  down  a 
little  east  of  nortlMVoin  tlio  Uinta  tnouutiiins.  betwocn  Hhick's  I'ork 
and  the  Muddy.  Tliis  may  ho  regarded  as  tlio  ^'colo-j^ical  divide  lie 
tweeii  the  watcM's  of  the  (Jreat  Salt  Lak>' Hasin  aiid  the  di'aina^e  of 
(Ireen  river.  The  Muddy  is  one  of  the  hranehes  of  Hlaek's  l-'orU, 
whieh  llowH  into  (Jreen  river,  and  west  of  this  .stream  we  have  what  is 
ealled  the  eastern  rim  of  the  Great  IJasin  of  Salt  Lake.  If  we  wen- 
to  travel  soutlnvard  to  the  foot  of  the  Uinta  moiititain.s,  from  the  rail 
road  along  this  divide,  we  should  be  able  to  dcteet  no  well-marked  line 
«)f  se|)aration  between  the  (Jreen  River  rtroup  and  the  W'asateh  (Jroup. 
Hridger's  IJutte,  as  well  as  the  entire  eastern  [jortion  of  this  divide 
fronting  the  valley  of  Black's  Fork,  exhibits  a  large  thickness  of  the 
.somber,  indurate'd  sands,  clays,  and  sandstones  of  the  Ibiilger  Group, 
passing  down  into  light  buff,  chalky  layers,  with  Plunorbis,  Unto,  He- 
lix, Goniohasls,  etc.  Within  a  distance  of  ten  miles  to  the  west  of  this 
l)utte  the  little  streams  cut  through  the  V''dcish  beds  of  the  Wasatch 
Group,  then  pass  up  into  whiter,  indurated,  marly  clays,  with  numer- 
ous concretionary  layers,  uiflering  from  the  chalky  beds  of  the  liridger 
and  Green  river  basin.  This  divide  probably  forms  the  junction  of  two 
great  fresh-water  lake  basins,  that  may  have  existed  contemporane- 
ously. The  two  great  basins  may  .have  been  connected  with  each 
other  at  different  points  at  some  stages  of  their  growth,  but  there  is 

an  abrupt,  persistent,  very  marked  difference  in  the  character  of  the 
sediments  of  the  two  basins.  While  the  Green  River  and  Bridgei- 
Groups  abound  with  fossils,  the  Wasatch  Group,  like  all  the  rocks  of  the 
west  that  are  characterized  by  brick-red  coloring  matter,  is  compara- 
tively quite  barren.  At  Bridgcr  station,  and  from  Hridger  to  Aspen, 
which  is  about  24  miles,  the  ochreous  beds  of  the  Wasatch  Group  are 
well  exposed  on  both  sides  of  the  road,  and  the  valley  through  which 
^  the  road  passes  from  Piedmont  to  Aspen  is  carved  out  of  this  Gron[) 
The  tunnel  at  the  head  of  Echo  canon  is  cut  through  the  reddish 
and  purplish  indurated  sands  and  clays  of  the  Wasatch  Group.  It  is 
770  feet  in  length.  The  valley  of  p]cho  canon  is  one  of  erosion,  and 
on  either  side  the  rocks  rise  wall-like  500  to  1,000  feet,  or  have  been 
weathered   into  curiously  castellated  forms,  a)ul  bear  such  names  as 


'?! 


23G 


Tertiary. 


.   (■■ 


Witches'  Rock,  Eagle  Rock,  Hanging  Rock,  Conglomerate  Peak,  Sen- 
tinel Rock,  jMonument  Rock,  etc.  Monument  Rock  is  a  regular 
obelisk  of  conglomerate,  standing  at  the  junction  of  the  Echo  with  the 
Weber  valley,  and  being  about  250  feet  high.  Descending  the  Echo 
canor ,  the  more  rugged  picturesque  scenery-  is  exhibited  on  the  right 
hand,  and  descending  the  Weber  the  same  lofty  perpendicular  walls^ 
weathered  here  and  there  into  all  sorts  of  fantastic  forms,  continue  to 
the  Narrows,  where  the  Weber  river  makes  a  bend  to  the  left,  and  the 
conglomerates  disappear.  The  whole  series  of  these  beds  is  referred  to 
the  Wasatch  Group,  and  the  thickness  estimated  at  from  .3,000  to  5,000 
feet,  the  conglomerate  portion  being  from  1,500  to  2,000  feet. 

He  proposed  the  name  of  the  "•  Sweetwater  Group,"  for  a  lake  deposit 
found  in  the  Sweetwater  valle}-.  There  is  a  high  ridge  or  divide, 
between  the  drainage  of  Wind  river.  North  Platte,  and  Sweetwater, 
300  to  400  feet  above  the  channels  of  these  streams,  which  is  com- 
posed of  the  Tertiary  beds.  The  Sweetwater  forms  a  distinct  concavity, 
with  this  high  divide  on  the  north  and  east,  and  the  vallej'  has  been 
scooped  out  so  that  until  we  roach  the  Sweetwater  Canon,  near  the 
South  Pass,  only  the  massive  granite  ridges  rise  up  among  the  modern 
Tertiarj^  beds,  which  jut  close  up  against  their  base.  This  is  a  valle}'  of 
denudation,  over  a  space  of  at  least  30  to  50  miles  in  width.  All  the 
unchanged  formations,  from  the  lignite  Tertiary  down  to  the  massive 
feldspathic  granites,  have  been  worn  av-'a}',  leaving  the  granites  scat- 
tered over  the  valley  in  the  isolated  ridges.  At  that  time  there  was  w 
fresh-water  lake  which  occupied  the  entire  valley,  ni'ich  as  Salt 
Lake  once  occupied  the  great  basin,  concealing  most  of  the  granite 
ridges,  while  others  rose  above  the  waters  like  islands.  Then  was  de 
posited  what  he  called  the  Sweetwater  Group,  or  perhaps  a  series  of 
beds  identical  with  the  upper  portion  of  the  Win<l  river  deposits. 
These  were  scooped  out  again  in  time,  and  tho  Pliocene  marls  and 
sands  were  deposited;  and  then  again  there  was  another  scooping  out 
of  the  valley,  and  finally  a  covering  of  the  hills  with  drift. 

The  mountainous  portions  of  Northern  Utah*  are  full  of  beautiful 
park-like  areas,  which  contain  the  evidences  ot  an  ancient  lake.  At 
Copenhagen  there  is  a  considerable  drift  or  bowlder  deposit  with  fine 
white  or  yellow  marly  sands  and  clays,  in  regular  layers,  showing  the 
d'.'posit  to  be  Post-pliocene,  and  that  the  waters  of  the  lake  were  com- 
parativel}'  quiet.     Near  Box  Polder  Canon  are   two  kinds  of  terraces, 


*  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  of  Montana,  etc. 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geology  and  Palinanfolo<fy. 


237 


the  usual  lake  terraces,  of  which  there  a"'^  two  well-defiuecl  lines  at 
least,  and  the  river  terraces,  which  are  confined  to  the  streams,  and  do 
not  seem  to  liuve  any  direct  connection  with  the  former.  The  lowest 
plain  vuUe^'  opposite  tlie  canon,  near  the  water's  edge,  is  4,344  feet 
above  sea  level;  1st  terrace,  4,083  feet;  2d  terrace,  4,776  feet;  and  3d 
terrace,  4,8.58  feet.  These  terraces  show  the  gradual  decrease,  step  by 
step,  of  the  waters  of  the  ancieut  lake,  and  the  operations  of  the  little 
streams  pouring  into  it  from  the  mountains  on  either  side.  The 
amount  of  local  drift  that  has  been  swept  down  through  the  gorges  or 
canons  and  lodged  at  the  opening  is  ver}'  great.  At  the  immediate 
mouth  of  the  canon,  the  bowlders  are  quite  large,  varying  in  diameter 
from  a  few  inches  to  several  feet.  Westward  toward  the  shore  of  the 
lake  the  bowlders  diminish  in  size  and  quantit}-,  and  the  finer  sedi- 
ments, as  sands  and  marls,  increase,  showing  a  constant  decrease  in 
the  power  of  the-  currents  of  the  water  after  leaving  the  mouth  of  the 
canon. 

The  local  drift  is  conspicuous  in  Logan  Canon.  It  is  composed  of 
rounded  bowlders,  with  clays  and  marls,  reaching  a  thickness  of  100  to 
150  feet  in  regular  and  horizont"!  strata,  attached  to  the  sides  of  the 
gorge,  and  showing  that,  however  turbulent  the  waters,  the  materials 
Avere  deposited  in  a  lake.  At  the  entrance  of  the  canon  are  some  re- 
markable terraces,  c^omposed  of  sands,  clavs,  marls  and  rounded 
bowlders. 

A  large  portion  of  Utah  is  made  up  of  nearl}'  parallel  ranges  of 
mountains,  trending  nearly  north  and  south,  with  intervening  valleys 
of  greater  or  less  width,  which,  after  their  elevation,  formed  shore  lines 
for  detached  lakes  or  bays.  It  would  appear  that  the  last  lake-period 
of  this  portion  of  the  west  commenced  in  the  Pliocene  epoch,  and  con- 
tinued on  up  to  the  present  time;  that  the  waters  once  filled  all  these 
valleys,  so  that  they  rested  high  upon  the  sides  of  the  mountains,  de- 
positing what  Prof  Hayden  called  the  Salt  Lake  Group,  gradually 
passing  into  the  Post- pliocene  deposits  which  verge  upon  our  present 
period.  It  is  quite  possible  that  tliere  have  been  oscillations  of  level 
in  these  modern  lake-waters;  but  so  far  as  the  proofs  go,  this  great  in- 
land lake  may  have  continued  quite  uniform  until  the  terrace  epoch, 
and  that  then  the  waters  gradually  receded  to  their  present  position. 

The  immediate  valley  of  Bear  river,  near  the  crossing,  is  interesting 
on  account  of  the  fine  development  of  the  lake-deposit,  which  is  com- 
posed of  clay,  sand,  and  marl,  yellow  and  rusty-drab  color,  and  attains 
a  thickness  of  200  to  300  feet.     The  elevation  of  Bear  river  vallev,  at 


2.38 


Tertiary. 


the  bridge,  is  4,542  feet,  and  the  highest  terrace  on  the  east  side  is 
4,737  feet,  and  the  iiigliest  on  the  west  side  is  4,779  feet.  The  imme- 
diate valley  of  Beai"  river  may  be  said  to  have  been  worn  out  of  the  Plio- 
cene or  lake  deposit. 

Among  the  lower  ranges  of  hills  that  border  the  east  side  of  the 
Great  Snake  river  basin,  especially  from  Port  Neuf  Canon  northward, 
the  Pliocene  deposits  are  well  shown,  and  lie  beneath  the  basaltic  floor. 
In  the  Port  Neuf  Canon  this  fact  is  illustrated  by  the  wearing  away 
of  the  cap  or  floor  of  basalt,  in  a  number  of  localities,  but  on  the  sides 
of  the  hills  this  is  shown  with  equal  clearness  b}'  the  elevations  of  the 
basalt.  The  dip  of  the  beds  is  not  great,  usually  not  more  than  5°  or 
10,°  and  in  all  cases  in  the  direction  of  the  great  basin.  This  would 
indicate  that  there  had  been  a  moderate  elevation  of  tne  mountain 
ranges,  or  a  depression  of  the  basin  at  a  very  modern  date,  even  ap- 
proaching very  close  to  oar  present  period.  The  eft'usion  of  such  a  vast 
amount  of  igneous  matter  from  the  interior  of  the  earth,  migl.t  suggest 
the  possibility,  or  even  probability,  that  the  cause  of  the  subsequent 
changes  in  the  hills  around  the  borders,  was  either  contemporaneous 
or  subsequent  to  the  eff'usion  of  the  melted  material.  If  the  elevation 
began  with  the  eruption,  it  certainlj'  continued  long  after  it  ceased,  in- 
asmuch as  the  basalt  is  lifted  up  in  thick  beds,  at  the  same  angle  with 
the  underlying  strata.  Not  only  in  the  valley  of  the  Pon  Neuf  and 
Snake  river  is  the  basalt  found  in  conjunction  with  lake  deposits,  but 
in  numerous  localities  all  over  the  northwest,  it  seems  to  rest  upon  those 
Pliocene  beds,  readily  adapting  itself  by  the  form  of  the  under  Riii'face 
to  the  irregularities  of  the  surface  of  the  lake  deposits. 

Prof.  Eug.  W.  Hilgard*  divided  the  Eocene  of  Alabama  and  i>Iissis- 
sippi  in  descending  order,  into,  1st,  Vicksburg  Group,  120  feet;  2d, 
Red  Bluff  Group,  12  feet;  3d,  Jackson  Group,  80  feet;  4th,  Claiborne 
Group,  60  feet;  5th,  Buhrstone  Group,  150  feet;  Gth,  Flatwoods  and 
Lagrange  Lignitic  Group,  450  feet,  making  a  total  thickness  of  872 
feet.  The  Lagrange  and  Porter's  Creek  Group  of  Saffbrd  is  the  same 
as  the  Flatwoods  and  Lagrange  Lignitic.  The  Buhrstone  Group  of 
Tuomey  is  the  same  as  the  Siliceous  Claiborne  Group  of  Hilgard. 

The  Eocence  is  followed  by  the  Grand  Gulf  Group,  probablj-  a  de- 
posit in  brackish  wat^r,  almost  non-fossiliferous,  and  having  a  thickness 
of  250  feet. 

Prof.  Leo  Lesquereuxf  described,  from    the  Green  River  Group  of 


*  Proc.  Am.  Ass.,  Ad.  Sci. 

+  1872,  IT.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  of  Montana,  etc. 


Mesozoi'c  and  Cwnozoic  Geologif  and  PalcBontologij. 


23:1 


W^'oming,  high  on  hills  from  the  river,  Ceanothus  cinnamomoides, 
now  Zizyphua  cinnamomoides  ;  from  the  liridger  Group  at  Washakie 
station,  near  Bridger's  Pass,  Rhamnus  intermedins,  Liqnidnmhar 
(fracile,  now  Aralia  gracilis,  and  Quercus  (emulans;  and  from  Barrell's 
Springs,  Equisetum  haydeni. 

After  reviewing  the  state  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Tertiary  and  Cre- 
taceous flora  of  this  country,  he  arrived  at  the  following  conclusions, 
to- wit: 

1.  The  Tertiary  flora  of  North  America  is,  by  its  types,  intimately 
related  to  the  Cretaceous  flora  of  the  same  country. 

2.  All  the  essential  types  of  our  present  arborescent  flora  are  al- 
ready marked  in  the  Cretaceous  of  our  continent,  and  become  more 
distinct  and  more  numerous  in  the  Tertiary;  therefore  the  origin  of  our 
actual  flora  is,  like  its./r<c/e.9,  truly  North  American. 

3.  Some  types  of  the  North  American  Tertiary  and  Cretaceous 
flora  appear  already  in  the  same  formations  of  Greenland,  Spitzbergen, 
and  Iceland;  the  derivation  of  these  types  is,  therefore,  apparently, 
from  the  arctic  regions. 

4.  The  relation  of  the  North  American  Tertiary  flora  with  that  of  the 
same  formation  of  Europe,  is  marked  only  for  North  American  types, 
but  does  not  exist  at  all  for  those  which  are  not  represented  in  the 
living  flora  of  this  continent.  Therefore,  the  European  Tertiarj'  flora 
partly  originates  from  North  American  types,  either  directly  from  our 
continent,  or  derived  from  the  arctic  regions. 

5.  The  relation  of  the  Tertiary  flora  of  Greenland  ami  Spitzber- 
gen with  ours  indicates,  at  the  Tertiary  and  Cretaceous  epochs, 
land  connection  of  the  northern  islands  with  our  continent. 

6.  The  species  of  plants  common  to  the  Cretaceous  and  Tertiary 
formations  of  the  arctic  regions,  and  of  our  continent,  indicate,  in  the 
mean  temperature,  influencing  geographical  distribution  of  vegetation, 
a  difterence,  in  -|-,  equal  to  about  5°  of  latitude  for  the  Tertiary  and 
Cretaceous  epochs. 

7.  The  same  kind  of  observation  on  the  geographical  distribution  of 
vegetable  species,  shows  at  the  Tertiary  and  Cretaceous  times,  difTer- 
onces  of  temperature    according  to  latitude,  analagous  to  what  is  re- 
marked at  our  time,  by  the  characters  of  the  southern  and  northern 
vegetation. 

CD 

Prof  E.  D.  Cope*  referred  the  Bridger  Group  to  the  Eocene,  and  de- 
scribed, from  Cottonwood  creek,  Wyoming,  Mesonyx  obtnsidens^  Triaco- 


m 


*  Pal.  Bull..  No.  1,  and  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc,  vol.  xii. 


240 


Tei'tiari/. 


don  aculeatus.  Lophiotherium  pyymceiim,  Anosf.ira  o'demia,  now  Plds 
fomenus  Oidemius,  A.  molopina,  now  P.  molopiniis,  A.  trionychoides, 
now  P.  tr  tony  chokies,  Trionyx  concentricu.s,  T.  thomasi,  now  Plasto- 
laonis  thomasi,  Axestas  bysstims,  Ba;aa  hehraica,  T'estudo  hadrlana, 
now  Iladrianas  corsoni,  Emys  polycyphits^  E.  terrestris,  Helothe- 
vium  procyoninum*  Stypolophus  pungens,  Pantolestes  lonyicaudits, 
Pseudotomus  hians,  HadrUmus  octonarius,  Hadrianus  allabiafAis,y 
Protacjras  lacustfis;  from  the  Bad  Lands  of  Black's  Fork  of  Green 
river,  AYyoniing,  Stypolophus  brevicolcaratus,  S.  insectlvorus,  MlacU 
parvivorus,  Tomitheriam  rosfratum,  and  Emys  latilahidtas. 

He  described, J  from  the  Eocene  of  the  upper  waters  of  Bitter  crook,. 
Wyoming,  Synoplotherium  laniiis,  Crocodilas  elavi's,  Jlhineastes  pelta 
ftis,  Ji.  smitht,  Loxolophodon  cornutus,^  L.  fnrcafus,  L.pi'essicornis, 
and  Palaiosyops  valUdens.  From  the  northern  part  of  the  Eoceno 
basin  of  Green  river,  Anaptoinorphus  ■(Bimilus,\  Crocodllus  sublatus,* 
C.  sulciferus^  and  Anostira  radulina.  From  the  lower  beds  of  tiio 
Green  River  Group,  near  Black  Buttes,  Alligator  heterodon.  From 
the  Wasatch  Group,  near  Evanston,  Utah,  Bothmodon  radians^B.  semi- 
cinctiis,  Notharctus  (r  ^v  Uyracothcrium)  vasacciensis,  Notomorpha 
gravis,  N.  testudinea.  From  the  Eocene,  at  Osino,  25  miles  northeast  of 
Elko,  Nevada,  Trichophanes  Mans  and  Amyzon  mentale.  From  the 
Green  River  Group  of  Wyoming,**  Erismatopterus  rickseckei  i,  and  0^- 
teoglossum^  now  Dapedoglossus  encaustum. 

He  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  New  Jersey,ff  Lembonax  propylams, 
L.  insiilaris,  and  Thecachampsa  serrata.  And  from  the  Miocene  near 
San  Diego,  California,  Eschrichtius  davidsoni. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Marsh  described, JJ  from  the  Eocene  near  Fort  Bridger. 
and  near  Henr3''s  Fork,  WN'oming,  Palwosyops  laticeps,  Telmatheri- 
urn  validus,  Ilyrachyus  princeps,  Homacodon  vagans,  Lim- 
liocyon  verus,  Viverraoas  gracilis,  Nyctitherium  velox,  iV".  priscus, 
Talpaims  nitidus,  Limnofelis  ferox,  L.  latidens,  Limnocyon 
ripariusy  L.  agilis,  lliinocyon  velox,  Viverravus  (??)  nitidits,  Thiiio- 
lestes   anceps,    Tehnalestes   crassvs,   Limnotheriurii    a^p'ne,    Orohippi's 


t 

1 

1 

■ff 

'  ,l 

'» 

i  V 

•1 

J: 

*  Pal.  Bull.  No.  2,  and  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 
-;•  Pal.  Hull.  No.  if,  and  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 

I  Pal.  Bill.  No.  6,  and  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 
■f.  Pal.  Bull.  No.  7,  and  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 

II  Pal.  Bull.  No.  H,  and  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 

H  Pal.  Bull.  No   !),  and  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc,  vol.  .\ii. 
'"■■  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  of  Wyoming, 
tt  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.,  Phil. 
tt  Am.  .Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  ^d  ser.,  vol.  iv. 


Mesozoic  and  Ca'tiozoic  Geology  and   PalcEontology. 


241 


pumilus,  Ilelohyus  plicodon,  Thinotheriam  validum,  Paasalacodon 
h'toralis,  Atii.sacodon  elegans,  Centetodon  piilcher,  Sfenacodon  rams. 
Antiacodon  venustus,  Baf.hrodon  annectens,  li.  typiis,  Mesacodon 
specfosus,  Hemiacodon  gracilis,  II .  nanus,  II.  pucillus,  Centetodon 
altidens,  Untomodon  comptus,  Untomacodoii  minutus,  Centracodon 
delicatus,  Nyctilestes  serotinus,  Ziphacodon  rugatns,  Ilarpalodon 
sylvestris,  IL.  vidpinus,  Orotherium  uintanum,  Ilelafetes  hoops, 
Paramys  robustus,  Tiliomys  senex,  T.  parvus^  T.  Incaris,  Scinraws 
parvidens.  Colony  my s  celer,  Apatemys  bellus,  A.  hellulus,  Entomnco- 
don  angustidens,  Triacodon  grandis,  T.  nanus,  Earyacodon  lepidus^ 
Paloiacodon  vagus,  Aletornis  nobilis^  A.pernix,  A.  venustus,  A.  bellus. 
A.  gracilis,  Uintornis  lucaris,  Thinosaurus  agilis,  T.  crassus,  T. 
grandis,  T.  leptodus,  T.  paucidens,  Qlyptosaurus  princeps,  Oreosanrus 
ragans,  Tinosaurus  stenodon,  Qlyptosaurus  brcvidens,  G.  rugosus,  G. 
sphenbdon,  Oreosanrus  lentus,  O.  gracilis,  O.  microdus,  0.  minutus, 
Tinosaurus  lepidus,  Iguanavus  exilis,  Tinoceras  grandis,  Dinoceras 
lacustris,  and  Oreocyon  latidens.  He  described,  from  the  Post- 
pliocene,  near  Bangor,  ]\[aine,  Catarractes  affinis,  and  from  Monmouth 
county,  New  Jersey',  Meleagris  celer,  and  Qrus  proavus.  Of  the  above 
list,  it  is  stated  by  Cope  that  the  new  generic  names  are  not  generally 
defined. 

Dr.  Joseph  Leidy*  described,  from  the  Bridger  Group  of  W^'oming, 
Uintacyon  edax.,  U.  vorax,  Chameleo  lyristinus.^  Lepidosteus  atrox,  L. 
notabilis,  L.  simplex,  Amia  gracilis,  A.  media,  A.  uintensis,  Ilypamia 
elegans,  Pimelodus  antiquus.  Phareodus  acutus,  Tlyrachyus  nanus, 
Microsyops  gracilis,  Palmacodon  verus,  Ilipposyus  formosus,  Pahvo- 
syops  junior^  P.  humilis,  and  Uintatherium  rob,  turn.  From 
the  Niobrara  Group,  on  the  Niobrara  river,  in  Nebraska,  Felis 
angustus ;  from  Green  river,  Oligosonius  grandoevus ;  from  the 
Black  Foot  country  at  the  head  of  the  Missouri,  Tylosteu)  ornatus; 
and  from  the  Pliocene  of  Oregon,  Hadrohyus  supremus,  Bhiiioceros 
paci^ficns,  and  Stylemys  oregonensis. 

Prof.  F.  B.  Meek  f  described,  from  the  Green  River  Group  at 
Washakie,  Wyoming,  Unio  washakiemis,  and  from  Pacific  Springs. 
Bythinella  gregaria. 

T.  A.  Conrad|  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  North  Carolina,  Ostre- 
nomia  carolinensis ;  and  from  the  INIiocene  of  the  same  state,  Donax 
idoneus. 


'Ciiii 


*  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sei. 
T  Geo.  Sur.  of  Wyominj?. 
t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 


1: 
1 

: 

f 

i^ 

242 


Tevtlarj). 


V\' 


In  187;{,  Prof.  E.  D.  Cope*  described,  I'roiii  tlie  Hrid<>er  Group  ol' 
Hitter  creek,  and  Cottonwood  creek,  Limnohyns  loividens;  from  a  bluil 
on  Green  river,  near  the  moutli  of  tiie  Big  Sandy,  Wyoming,  Pnlfcosij- 
opafontinalis;  from  the  summit  of  Chiircli  Butte,  Trionpx  hetero(ilyi)- 
tus;\  from  the  Bad  Lands  of  Cottonwood  creek,  T.  scntaiiiantiqmim. 
Pcvppichthys  plicatus,  P.  sclerops,  P.  Icvis,  P.  symphysis^  Rhineastes 
mdidus  ;  from  Ham's  Fork,  liffua  ponderosa,  Clnstes  anax  ;  from  tiic 
Green  River  Group,  near  Evanston,  U':ah,  Bathniodon  latipes ;  from 
near  Black  Buttes,  Emys  euthnetifs,  E.meyaulax,  E.pachylomits;  from 
Upper  Green  river,  Pappichthys  corsoni,  lihineastes  c(dvt(s,  li.  arciin- 
(Hs;  from  (Treen  river  basin,;};  Antincodon  furcatus,  now  Sarcolemnr 
fnrcatus,  Orotherinm  (now  Hyracotherium)  index:  from  Cottonwood 
creek,  3Iicrosyops  vicarius,  OUgotonms  cinctus ;  from  South  Bitter 
creek,  Paramys  leptodns,  Eobasileus  galeatus,  Achwnodon  insolens, 
from  irenry's  Fork,  Palmosyops  dlaconas,  Hyrachyas  implicatus;  from 
near  Evanston,  Phenacodiis  primcBviis. 

He  described,  from  the  Miocene  of  Colorado,^  IJyopsodus  mini- 
mus, Hypertragulns  calcaratus,  II.  f.ricostfitas,  and  3Ienof.herium 
h-murinum:  from  the  Miocene  of  the  Western  plains,|  Aelnrodon  mus- 
felimns,  now  3fustela  pai'viloba^  Aphelops  megalodus,  PolcBolagus 
(Kjapetillus,^^  Colotaxis  cristatus,  Ilyrocodon  quadriplicatas,  now  An- 
chisodon  qnadripUcatus,  II.  nrcidens,  Symborodon  tomts,  Miobasile- 
vs  ophryas,  3fegaceratops  acer,  31.  helocerus,  Peltosaarus  granulosus. 
Testndo  amphithorax^  T.  cultratus,  T.  laticunens,  T.  ligonius,  Domnina 
gradata.**  Ilerpetotherivmfugax,  Daptophilns  squalidens,  Tomarctus 
brevirostris,  Sfibaru  obtusilobus,  Cants  gregarius,  Isacis  (now  31  io- 
dectes)  caniculus,  Paloiolagus  triplex.,  P.  turgidus,  Tricium  avunculus. 
T.  leporimnn,  T.  pauiense,  Gymnoptychns  minutus,  G.  nasutus,  O. 
trilophus,  Anchitherium  cunentum,  and  I'rimerodus  cedrensis. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Marshf  t  described,  from  tlie  Eocene  deposits  of  Wyoming 
and  Oregon,  Dinoceras  mirnbilis,  Orohippus  agilis,  C'olonoceras  agres- 
/is.  Dinoceras  lucaris,  Oreodon  occidenfalis,  Rhinoceras  annectens 
R.  oregonensis.  Tillotherium  hyracoides  ;  from  tlie  Afiocene  of  Colora- 


*  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc,  vol.  xiii. 

t  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.,  Wyoming,  etu. 

I  Pal.  Bull.  vol.  xii. 

'i  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sei 

i  Pal.  Bull.  vol.  xiv. 

If  Pal.  Bull.  No.  XV. 

*'■'  f»al.  Bull.  No.  xvi. 

tt  Am.  Jour   Sei.  and  Arts,  :id  ser,,  vol.  v. 


m 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geology  and  Paloiontology. 


243 


do,  Brontotherium  gigns,  and  Elotherlum  crassum;  and  from  the  Up- 
per Eocene  of  Wyoming',*  Dinoceras  laticeps. 

Dr.  Joseph  Leidyf  described,  from  the  Bridger  Group  in  the  Buttes 
of  Dry  creeii,  Ilgopsodus  mimtscidus,  Mgsops  fraternus,  Wa<ihakius 
insignis,  Saniva  major ;  from  the  Grizzly  Buttes,  Sinopa  eximia  ;  from 
the  Buttes,  ten  miles  from  Dry  Creek  Canon,  Amiauintaensis;  from  the 
junction  of  Sand  and  Green  rivers,  A.  media;  from  Henry's  Fork,  A. 
gracilis  ;  from  Dry  creek,  Hypamia  elegans  ;  from  the  junction  of  Big 
Sandy  and  Green  rivers,  Lepidosteus  atrox,  now  Clastes  atrox ;  from 
Washakie  station,  L.  simplex,  L.  notabilis,  now  Clastes  notabilis  ;  from 
Big  Sandy  and  Green  rivers,  Pimelodus  antiqiius,  Phareodus  acutas, 
Clupea  alta,  now  Diplomystus  alius ;  from  the  Miocene  of  Bridger 
creek,  a  tributary  of  John  Day's  river,  one  of  the  branches  of  the 
Columbia,  in  Oregon,  iJicotyles  prisUnus,  Elotherium  imperator ;  from 
Washington  county,  Texas,  Anchitherium  australe  ;  from  Red  Rock 
creek,  a  tributary  of  Jefferson  Fork  of  the  Missouri,  Anchitherium 
rt//res<e ;  from  Richmond,  Virginia,  Procamelus  virginiensis,  Tautoga 
conidens,l  Acipenser  ornatus ;  from  the  Post-pliocene  of  California, 
Felis  imperialis,  and  Anchenia  hesterna. 

Prof.  F.  B.  Meek§  described,  fioni  Church  Buttes,  Physa  bridg  en- 
sis;  from  twelve  miles  south  of  Fort  Bridger,  Pupa  leidyi;  ai  ,i  from 
the  upper  beds  exposed  at  Separation,  on  the  U.  P.  R.  R.,  Limna^a  com,- 
2)actilis. 

Prof.  Lesquereux  described,  from  South  Park,  near  Castello's  Ranch, 
Ophioglossum  alleni,  and  Planera  longifolia;  from  Elko  station,  Seq- 
voia  angustifolfa,  Thvya  garmani,  and  Abies  nevadensis. 

In  1874,  Prof.  E.  D.  Cope||  described,  from  the  Bridger  Group  of 
South  Bitter  creek,  Eobastleus  galeatus,  and  Achainodon  insolens ; 
from  the  Miocene  of  Colorado,  Symborodon  hypoceras,  Anchitherium 
exoletum,  and  Hippotherium  paniense.  He  described  from  the  Eocene 
of  the  Middle  and  South  Parks,  Colorado,^  Amyzon  commune,  and 
Clupea  theta,  now  Diplomystus  thetus ;  from  the  White  River  Group, 
Hypertragulus  tricostatus,  Elotherium  rarnosum,  now  Pelonax  ram- 
osus,   and  Menotheriam   lemurinum ;   from    the   Loup   Fork    Group, 


*  Am.  Jour.  Sci-  and  Arts,  3d  ser.,  vol.  vi. 
t  Cont.  to  Ext   Vert.  Fauna,  W.  Terr. 
X  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 
I  <ith  Ann.  Rep.  U-  S.  Geo.  Sur    Terr. 
i  7th  Ann.  Rep.  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 
IT  Bull.  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 


244 


Tertiary. 


H, 


II 


;f 


1 


Protohippus  sejtmctus,  Procamelus  anffustidens,  P.  heferodontas,  and 
Menjcodas  yemmifer,  now  Dlastomeryx  (jemmifer. 

He  determined  that  the  lacustrine  deposit  in  the  valley  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  called  the  Santa  Fe  marls,  is  of  Pliocene  age,  and  described* 
Martes  nambianus.  now  Pulorius  nambianns,  Cosoryx  ramosus.,  now 
Dlcroceras  ramosus,  C.  teres,  now  D.  teres,  Hesperomys  loxodon,  now 
Enmys  loxodon,  Patiolax  sanctcejidei,  Cuthartes  ambrosus,  now  Vultnr 
umbrosus,  Mdslodon  productus,  and  Steneojiber  pansus. 

Prof.  O.  C.  Marslif  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  Wyoming,  Orohip 
pus  major,  Stylinodon  mirus,  and  Tillotherium  latidens;  from  the  Mi- 
ocene of  Colorado,  Brontotheriuni  inyens;  from  Nebraska,  Dakota  and 
Oregon,  Miohippus  annectens,  Anchitherium  anceps,  A.  celer,  Ayichip- 
pus  brevidens,  and  Elotheriam  bathrodon;  and  from  Pliocene  strata  of 
the  west,  PUohippus  pernix,  P.  robustus,  Protohippus  avns,  3Iorothe- 
rium  gigas,  and  M.  leptonyx. 

Prof.  Leo  Lesquereux  described,];  Irom  Elko.  Nevada,  Lycopodmm 
prominens,  Myrica  partita,  Quercns  elkoana,  Diospyros  copeana,  Sa- 
pindus  coriaceus;  from  Middle  Park,  Salvinia  cyclophylla,  Ulrmts 
terminer  vis,  Sapindus  angustifolius,  Staphylea  acuminata,  Rhus  dry 
meja,  It.  haydeni^  Pterocarya  americana;  from  Green  river,  Equise- 
fwnwyomingense;  h'om  Florissant,  South  Park,  Acorns  a ffi^nis,  Myrica 
Gopiana,  Weinmannia  rosmfolia.  Ilex  subdenticiilata,  I.  undulata. 
Paliurus  Jlorissanti,  Coisalpinia  linearis,  Acacia  septentrionalis. 

The  Eocene§  is  found  in  North  Carolina,  between  the  Neuse  and  the 
Cape  Fear,  and  in  limited  outcrops  throughout  the  triangular  region  be- 
tween Newborn,  Goldsboro  and  Wilmington.  It  consists  of  a  light 
colored,  consolidated  raarlite,  as  in  the  steep  bluffs  on  the  Neuse,  10 
miles  below  Goldsboro,  or  of  a  shell  congloflierate  as  seen  about  Nevv- 
bern,  and  8  or  10  miles  up  Trent  river,  or  of  a  white  calcareous  sand- 
stone, more  or  less  compacted,  as  on  the  Neuse  near  Goldsboro;  or  of 
a  gray  and  hard  limestone,  as  about  Richlauds  in  Onslow;  or  of  a 
coarse  conglomerate  of  worn  shells,  sharks'  teeth,  and  fragments  of 
bones  and  stony  pebbles,  as  in  the  upper  part  of  Wilmington  and  at 
Rockj'  Point;  or  of  a  fine  shaly  infusorial  clay,  light  gray  to  ash  coL 
ored,  as  in  Sampson  county  near  Faison's  depot.  The  outliers  show 
that  the  formation,  though  limited  in  thickness,  had  a  great  horizontal 
extent,  and  once  extended  quite  into  the  hill  country  of  the  State,  and 


♦  Proc.  Acad   Nat.  Sci.  Phil, 
t  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  3d  ser.,  vol.  vii. 
\  7th  Ann,  Rep.  U.  S-  Geo.  Sur   Terr. 
I  Weo    of  N.  Carolina,  1875. 


Mesozoic  and  Cmuozoi.r.   Oeologi/  and  Palmontology. 


245 


light 


nearly  150  miles  frotn  the  present  coast  line,  and  to  an    elevation    of 
nearly  400  feet. 

The  Miocene  occurs  in  Uiseonnecteil  patches,  in  river  blufl's  and  in 
ravines  over  the  seaboard  region,  and  extending  from  the  shore  and 
the  western  margins  of  the  sounds  50  to  75  miles  inland.  It  consists 
of  beds  of  clay,  sand  and  marl,  which  are  locally  filled  with  shells 
from  2  to  8  feet,  and  occasionally  10  to  20  feet. 

Prof.  Theo.  B.  Comstock*  said  the  Green  River  Group  is  used  to  de- 
signate that  portion  of  the  fresh-water  Tertiary  strata  which  lies  di- 
rectly above  the  coal  group,  and  which  is  the  present  surface  formation 
over  a  large  portion  of  the  Green  river  basin,  north  of  Fort  Bridger. 
The  upper  limit  is  not  readily  definable  at  present,  the  transition  be- 
tween the  beds  of  this  and  the  overlying  group  being  rather  gradual^ 
but  the  general  character  of  the  two  formations,  both  lithologically  and 
palseontologically,  differs  greatly.  The  Green  river  beds  are  mainly 
composed  of  a  series  of  shales,  marls,  and  harder  calcareous  strata, 
the  latter  especially  containing  quantities  of  the  remains  of  fresh- 
water forms  of  life,  with  laminated  layers,  literally  filled  with  the  re- 
mains of  land  plants  of  the  Phaenogamous  series.  The  outline  of  tiie 
ancient  lake  basin,  in  which  these  strata  were  deposited,  is  not  fully 
determined,  but  there  are  indications  that  its  eastern  boundary  waw 
outside  of  the  present  limits  of  the  Green  river  basin,  and  there  is  no 
room  for  doubt  that  the  Uinta  mountains,  and  the  Wahsatch  chain, 
then,  as  now,  towered  above  its  surface.  Northward  it  is  equally  clear 
tiiat  the  Wind  River  Range  formed  the  shore  of  the  great  lake,  with 
probably  more  or  less  of  gently  sloping  border  during  a  portion  of  the 
era  of  Lower  Eocene  deposition.  The  excessive  erosion  has  exposed 
the  beds  over  the  route  from  Fori  Bridger  to  near  South  Pass,  and 
generally  speaking,  the  rock  contains  a  considerable  portion  of  calcic 
carbonate,  with  an  abundance  of  ferric  oxide  produced  by  decomposi- 
tion and  oxidation.  Gypsum  and  calcite  of  different  varieties  are 
abundant,  frequently  occurring  as  thin,  papery  seams  between  the 
rock-layers,  at  other  times  forming  masses  of  considerable  extent. 
Some  of  the  layers  are  little  more  than  a  pure  cla}'  shale,  while  there 
are  a  few  quite  arenaceous  beds  and  some  compact  limestones.  The 
texture  of  the  different  beds  is  quite  variable,  but,  in  general,  the 
streams  which  have  cut  their  channels  through  them  are  walled  by 
nearly  vertical  cliflfs,  and  the  buttes  and  benches  for  the  most  part  have 


*  Rep.  of  Reconnaissance  of  Yellowstone  river  andN.  W.  Wyoming 


I    1 

i    ' 


246 


Tertiary, 


!• 


quite  precipitous  sidos.  Numerous  joints  occur  in  many  of  tlie  strata, 
particularly  in  the  more  compact  kinds,  and  (ino  examples  of  concre- 
tionary structure  or  vveatlieiinj^  are  not  rare.  The  tendency  of  the 
thick  beds  of  marly  sandstone  on  the  banks  of  Green  river,  at  the 
crossinjr,  to  weather  spheroidally,  is  very  noticeable,  and  this  is  repeat- 
ed in  various  degrees  in  the  argillaceous  and  calcareous  rocks  as  well. 

The  liridger  Group,  though  succeeding  the  Green  llivor  Group,  is 
closely  related  to  it,  for  the  transition  from  one  to  the  other  is  not 
abrupt,  either  in  the  structure  of  the  beds  or  their  contents.  The 
Group  is  exposed  at  the  surface  over  a  considerable  extent  of  country, 
northward  and  eastward  from  Foit  Bridger  as  far  as  Little  Sandy 
river  and  beyond,  forming  the  top  layers  of  numerous  isolated  buttes, 
During  this  epoch  it  is  probable  that  the  land  was  covered  with  fresh 
water  in  a  lake  as  large  as  in  the  previous  era,  if  not  more  extensive. 
The  beds  are  mainly  composed  of  dull-colored,  indurated  ch»ys,  and 
arenaceous  layers  of  considerable  thickness,  the  latter  usually  brown- 
ish, or  dull  yellow  or  gray,  often  with  more  or  less  of  a  concretionary 
structure.  The  clays  are  generally  compacted,  but  they  become  dis- 
integrated upon  exposure  to  the  atmosphere,  and  readily  yield  to  the 
eroding  forces.  Some  thinner  layers  of  more  calcareous  material,  with 
silicious seams,  often  affording  interestingconcretions,  are  interspersed, 
but  they  are  rather  exceptional  than  otherwise.  The  Green  river  and 
Bridger  Groups  are  readily  distinguished  by  the  effects  produced  by 
erosion.  The  former  presenting  nearly  vertical  cliffs,  so  that  the  im- 
pression in  crossing  the  country  where  i^  forms  the  surface  rocks  is 
that  of  traveling  over  an  ordinary  plain  with  occasional  descents,  by  a 
succession  of  terraces,  to  the  narrow  vallej's  of  the  streams.  On  the 
contrary,  where  it  is  concealed,  or  only  occasional!}'  capped  hy  the 
Bridger  Group,  the  country  is  very  irregular,  often  simulating  the 
"  Bad  Lands;"  the  beds  of  the  latter  being  eroded  without  complete  de- 
nudation, so  that  they  stand  out  in  buttes,  or  rude  architectural  forms. 

The  deposits  in  the  Yellowstone  Lake  basin,  and  in  the  valley  of  the 
main  river  and  its  tributaries,  which  may  be  regarded  as  Pliocene,  are 
mainly  the  sediments  of  an  ancient  lake,  of  which  the  present  body  of 
water  is  the  representative  on  a  much  reduced  scale.  Beautiful  and 
highly  instructive  sections  of  the  old  beach  formations  are  exposed  in 
the  valleys  of  the  streams,  particularly  in  the  lower  valley  of  Pelican 
creek,  and  far  down  the  Yellowstone  river,  where  they  become  more 
complicated  and  more  interesting.  An  examination  of  these  shows 
that  the  lake  formerly  extended  over  a  much  larger  area,  and  that  it 


Mesozoic  and  Cd'nozoic  Geoloijy  and  Polwontoloyy. 


217 


has  held  its  place  amid  changes  ot*  great  importance.  It  was  during 
the  latter  portion  of  the  T(!rtiarv  age  that  much  of  the  volcanic  ac- 
tivity took  place  which  was  so  general  over  this  [)ortion  of  the  country, 
though  probably  only  the  closing  stages  of  the  lava  flows  are  repre- 
sented by  the  eruptive  dei)osits  of  the  Pliocene  e[)Och.  A  section  on 
the  present  lake  shore,  between  Blutf  Point  and  Steam  Point,  in  de- 
scending order,  is  as  follows: 

1.  Grass-covered  soil  passing  gradually  to  loose  sand,  2  feet. 

2.  Various  sand,  gravel,  and  spring  deposits  with  scattered  irony 
concretions,  tJ  feet. 

3.  White  and  dark  lake  sand,  very  tliinly  laminated  with  beach 
structure,  and  occasional  irony  layers,  5  feet. 

4.  About  15  feet  of  thinly  laminated,  blue-black  clay,  locally  con- 
torted an(]  beautifully  cut  by  a  small  rill,  emanating  as  a  spring  from 
one  of  the  ironv  layers  in  No.  3.     The  water  is  slightly  chalvl)eate. 

Other  sections  show  the  same  general  features  with  more  oi-  less  vari- 
ation. They  represent  the  upper  portion  of  the  Pliocene  series,  de- 
posited toward  the  close  of  volcanic  activit}',  hence  the  occasional  beds 
of  volcanic  ejectamenta  which  were  poured  out  into  the  lake,  are  main- 
ly composed  of  volcanic  sand  and  the  finer  textured  conglomerates,  as 
may  well  be  seen  near  Steamboat  springs.  As  we  descend  the  valley 
of  the  Yellowstone  river,  we  find  the  lower  members  of  the  group  well 
exposed,  and  the  beds  of  unmodified  non-molten  material  becoming 
more  common,  with  increasing  pro|)ortions  of  the  molten  or  lava  series, 
until  the  latter  are  almost  universal,  and  doubtless  represent  an  earlier 
period,  though  frequently  largely  concealed  by  the  subsequent  spring 
deposits.  Near  the  close  of  the  Pliocene  epoch,  the  Internal  fires  had 
so  far  died  out  that  the  igneous  ejections  were  of  fitful  occurrence,  and 
geysers,  solfataras,  fumaroles,  etc.,  abounded  to  an  almost  Incredible 
extent,  giving  rise  to  enormous  deposits  of  siliceous  and  calcareous 
material,  which  has  continued  to  be  deposited  with  decreasing  vigor 
until  the  present  day. 

Prof.  G.  K.  Gilbert*  found  a  section  of  Tertiary  on  the  east  face  of 
Sam  Pitch  Plateau,  at  Wales,  Utah.  1,292  feet  in  thickness,  another 
near  the  head  of  the  main  Sevier  river,  in  Utah,  560  feet,  and  another 
on  the  north  fork  of  Virgin  river,  between  Mountain  Lakelet  and 
Rockville,  in  Southern  Utah,  estimated  at  3,000  feet. 

Prof.  E.  D.  Copef  described  the  Puerco  marls  as  in  all  probability 


*  (Jeo.  Sur.  W.  100th  Meridian,  vol.  iii. 

t  Ann.  Rep.  Explr    and  Sur.,  W.  100th  Meridian  App.  L.  L. 


*lj 


F.:l> 


'■'  U 


24  S 


Tertiary. 


ii  liicustrine  formation  of  Eoccno  aj^c,  thoui^h  liaviiig  (ixaininod  an  out 
crop  for  forty  miles,  he  (li.scovcred  no  fossil  remains  except  fossil  wood, 
lie  said  the  material  is  so  easily  transported  tliat  the  draina<i;e  chan 
nels  are  cut  to  a  great  depth,  and  tlu;  Piierco  river  becomes  the  recep 
taL'le  of  {^reat  (quantities  of  slimy-looking  mud.     Its  unctions  appear- 
ance resembles,  strongly,  soft  soap,  hence  the  name  Puerco,  greasy. 
'I'hese  soft  marls  cover  a  belt  some  miles  in  width,  and   continue   al 
the  foot  of  another  line  of  sandstone  blulfs,  which  bound  tlu>  immediate 
valley  of  the  Piierco  to  a  point  eighteen  miles  below  Nacimiento. 

This  section  of  the  Eocene  strata  in  the  region  west  of  the  Sierra 
Madre  Range  in  New  Mexico  consists  of  green  and  black  marls,  which 
he  named  the  Puerco  Group,  fjOO  feet;  sandstone  of  the  Wasatch  Group 
1,000  feet,  and  red  and  gray  marls  of  the  same  group,  1,500  feet;  mak- 
ing a  total  thickness  of  3,000  feet. 

He  described,*  from  the  Eocene  of  New  Mexico,  Ambloctoniis  nin 
osus,  Protctumus  secundnrius,  P.  muUicuspis,  P.  strenuiis,  Diacodon 
alticuspis,  D.  coilatus,  PcUjcodus  fruyivorus,  Paatolestes  chacennis, 
Opisthotomus  astutvx.  0.  Jlagrans,  Aniiacodon  nientalis,  A.  crassun, 
Hyrachiitis  sirifjularis,  Hyracotherium  lapirinum,  H.  angu'jtidens,  II ^ 
nuspidatam,  Buthniodon  latldens,  B.  cmpidtdus,  Diplocynodus 
sphenovs,  Crocodilus  grypus,  C.  wheeler i,  and  Dermatemys  (/) 
costilatas. 

He  described,!  from  the  Miocene  of  Cumberland  county.  New  Jersey, 
Phasyanodus  gentryi,  Sphyr'tmodus  silovianus,  r/nl  Ayabelvs  porca- 
fiis  ;  from  Flowei's  T oar!  pit,  Duplin  cinty,  Noifch  Carolina,;!;  Pristis 
attenuatus ;  from  Edgertoa's  plantation,  in  Way  no  county,  Pneiima- 
tosteus  nahnnticus ;  from  Halifax  coualy,  MescMras  kerrianus,  ami 
Delphinapterus  orcinus.  From  the  Loup  Fork  Group  of  New 
Mexico,^  Pliauchenia  humphreysana,  P.  vulcanorum,  Hippotheri- 
urn  calamarium,  and  Aphelops  jenezanus  ;  and  from  the  Pliocene  of- 
the  West,  Canis  ursinus. 

Prof  O.  C.  Marsh||  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  Wyoming,  Lemi(- 
ravus  duitcws,   Tillotherium  fodiens  ;  from  Utah,  Diceratherium  ad- 
venum,    Diplacodon    elatus,    Orohippus    uintensis,    and   Agrinchcerus 
pamUns.     From  the  Miocene  bad  lands  of  Nebra'^ka,    Laoplt/eciis  ro 
busius,  Anisacodon  montnnus ;  from  the  John  Day  rivet-  in  <)i'egon, 


*  Geo.  Sur.  W.  100th  Mnidian,  Syst.  Catal .  of  Vertobiutu,. 
t  Prof.  Am.  Phil.  Sci.    vol.  xiv. 
X  Geo.  of  N.  Carolinn. 

I  Troa.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci. 

II  Ain.  .Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts.  3d  ser.,  vol.  ix. 


I 


Mesoznir,  and  Ctnnozofr  Ovoloijif  (uul   PnhvotUoloi/y. 


240 


vvluMo  the  beds  liiiv(!  an  cstinmtcd  lliiclviicss  of  r),()()0  (Vet,  Ih'c.crathcri- 
am  firuuffum,  7).  /irnnim^  Thituthijus  lenfiis,  iiiul  7'.  socialt's. 

'l\  A,  Coiii'jul*  (lescrlbeil,  from  tlic  Koecno  iit  Wiltiiiiifxtoi),  North 
Caroliim,  Terehntfidn  demissirosti'ti;  hikI  IVoiu  lU'juil'oit,  Pecfen  (ini- 
soplenra  and  P.  cnrolineiisis. 

From  the  MioccMU'  near  VVilminyton,  and  other  placets  in  Nortli  ('ar- 
olina,  Liropecfcn  cat'ofinoisis,  Os/reti  pcrlirafa,  P/dciinonn'a  Jrar/osn, 
lincta  (ilf<i.  A',  erecfft,  A  bra  hc.lfd,  .i.  holmesi,  Noetid  protexfn^  N'.Jlloxa, 
Mcrr<in(tri(i  carol incnsis,  LcptofhyriH  pdi'i'li's,  Ttuwhifrnvdiinii  heflnm 
Mj/sfn  carolineHsis,  Saxicavu  protecta,  TiirriteUnperexifis,  T,  carolfji- 
ensis,  FisHurella  caroliiiensis.  Littorind  carnUnensis,  liiisi/con  kern\  li. 


B. 


from  Sulfolk,  Va.,  Zizyph 


dmoenum,  ji 

W.  II.  Dalit  de.seribed,  from  tlic  IMiocen(!  at  C'erros  Ishind,  California, 
fVdldheimid  kenttedjii;  from  the  Pliocene  at  San  Diego,  (nirjjsodomas 
dicijoensis.  And  R.  C.  Stearns;);  described,  frofn  the  same  strata,  Opalia. 
anontdla,  and  0.  iHiricosfatd. 

In  I87t),  Prof.  J.  W.  Powell);  subdivided  the  Tertiary  rocks  of  the 
plateau  province  of  the  west  in  ascending-  order,  into  the  *' Hitter  Creek 
Group,"  which  is  synonymous  with  the  Wasatch  Group,  and  has  a 
thickness  of  5,000  feet.  It  is  succeeded  by  the  Lower  (jlreen  River 
(xroup,  consisting  of  shales,  often  bituminous;  sandstones;  carbonace- 
ous shales  and  lignitic  coal  near  the  base.     Thickness,  800  feet. 

This  group  is  well  exposed  along  Green  river,  from  Green  River 
station  southward  for  10  miles;  in  man}' of  the  escarpments  of  theQuieii 
Hornet  mountain,  and  a  few  miles  northeast  from  the  head  of  Vei-- 
milion  canon ;  on  Snake  river,  six  miles  above  the  northern  foot  of 
Junction  mountain;  and  on  the  elevated  ledges  known  as  Pine  BlufTs, 
near  the  sources  of  the  eastern  tributai-ies  of  Vermilion  creek.  The 
beds  are  all  fresh  water. 

The  Upper  Green  River  Group  consists  of  sandstones,  sometime,-" 
ai'gillaceous  limestones,  carbonaceous  shales  and  lignitic  coal,  near  the 
middle  and  in  the  lower  part  massive  or  irregularly  bedded  sandstone, 
ferruginous.  Unconformable  by  erosion  with  lower  Group.  Thickness, 
500  feet. 

The  plant  beds  of  this  group  are  well  exposed  to  the  north  of  Green 
River  station,  and  between  that  point  and  Alkali  stage  station,  in 
many  gulches  and  canons;  in  the  cuts  of  the  Union  Pacific   Railroad 


'•'  Oco.  of  N.  Carolina. 
■{■  Proc.  C'al.  Acad.  Sci.,  vol.  v. 
t  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sci.  Phil. 
g  Geo-  of  Uinta  Mountains. 


IB« 


I    ■; 


250 


Tertiary. 


:W 


■1 
i 


i 

i 

V 

'i 

I 


between  Green  River  station  and  Bryan  and  in  the  escarpments  ci 
either  side  of  Henry%;  Fork  at  many  places.  The  Tower  sandstone  is 
well  shown  in  the  cHrfs  nt  (iieen  River  station,  and  in  that  vicinity  and 
below  the  mouth  o*  Jurrant  creek.  The  Tower  sandstone  is  laid  down 
unconformably  on  tl\e  Lower  Green  River  Group,  the  unconformity 
being  represented  by  gentle  valleys  of  erosion. 

The  Bridger  Group  consists  ot  Bad  Land  sandstones  (chiefly  green 
sands)  limestones,  shells,  marls,  and  concretionary  and  stratitled  flints. 
Thickness,  2,000  feet. 

It  is  well  exposed  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Bridger,  at  Church  Buttes, 
at  Ha3'stack  mountain  and  in  the  Cameo  mountains.  An  outlying- 
patch  is  found  north  of  the  Dry  mountains  between  Vermilion  creek 
and  Snake  river.  Unconformity  with  the  beds  of  the  Lower  Green 
River  Group  may  be  seen  in  the  vicinity  of  Carter  station,  but  uncon- 
fori  iity  with  the  Upper  Green  River  Group  has  not  been  observed. 
The  two  are  separated,  however,  upon  lithological  grounds,  thoi.g-h  the 
plane  of  demnrkation  is  obscure.  The  moss  agates  for  whicli  the  re 
gicn  about  Fort  Bridger  has  been  noted  are  from  i;'regular  beds  and 
aggregations  of  chalcedony  in  this  Group. 

Tne  Brown's  Park  Group  consists  of  sandstones,  gravels,  limestones, 
concretionary    :ind    stratified   flints.     Unconformable  with  all  under 
lying  rocks.     Thickness,  1,800  feet. 

It  is  well  represented  at  Brown's  Park,  in  northeastern  Utah,  and  in 
northwestern  Colorado.  About  five  miles  above  the  confluence  of  Snake 
river  with  the  Yampa,  the  beds  may  bo  seen  resting  unconformably 
against  Carboniferous  stra.t.i,  and  on  going  north  they  maj'  be  observed 
to  rest  unconformably  with  the  Bridger  Group. 

In  Brown's  Park,  it  lies  in  a  deep  basin  of  erosion,  the  bottom  and 
sides  of  which  are  composed  of  Uinta  sandstone.     This  basin  ic  in  the 
ver}'  axis  of  the  Uinta  uplift.     Its  sandstones  ure  Bad  Land  I'ocks  of 
exceedingly  fine  texture.     In  some  places  there  are  extensive  and  ir 
regular  aggregations  of  chalcedony. 

The  Bisiiop's  Mt.  Conglomerate,  which  is  unconformable  by  plica- 
tion and  erosion  with  underlying  rocks.  Thickness,  300  feet.  It  is 
fuuad  on  the  summits  of  Bishop  and  Quien  Hornet  mountains,  and  up 
on  various  tables  in  the  Uinta  mountains.  On  the  no''th  side  of  Con- 
nor basin,  at  the  head  of  Sheep  creek,  this  conglomerate  has  a  thickness 
of  more  than  1,000  feet.  It  is  neither  a  marine  nor  lacustrine  deposit, 
but  a  suboerial  one. 

Prof.  Powell  sa^'S,  witnessing  on  Qvniy  hand  the  accumulation  of  such 


Mesozoic  and  Caniozoic  Geology  and  Paloionfolor y. 


251 


gravels  in  valleys  and  over  plains  where  mountains  rise  to  higher  alti- 
tudes on  either  side,  and  having  in  many  cases  actujslly  seen  tlie  cliffs 
breaking  down,  and  the  gravels  rolling  out  on  the  floods  of  a  storm,  I 
am  not  willing  to  disregard  explanations  so  obvious,  and  so  certain,  for 
an  extraordinary  and  more  violent  hypothesis.  Irregular  accumula- 
tions of  clay,  accumulations  of  sand,  of  gravels,  and  bowlders,  having, 
in  a  general  way,  ?\\  the  liiliologic  characteristics  of  "drift,"  are  ver^' 
common  in  the  Rocky  mountain  region,  and  in  many  cases  their  origin 
can  be  traced,  to  oidinary  atmospheric  agencies  acting  on  the  adjacent 
hills  and  mountains;  and  no  glaciers  or  icebergs  are  needed  for  their 
explanation. 

We  learn  from  Dr.  Hayden,*  that  on  the  high  divide  between  the 
drainage  of  the  Arkansas  and  South  Platte  rivers,  there  occur  fresh- . 
water  lake  deposits,  having  a  thickness  of  1,000  or  1,500  feet,  and  cov- 
ering an  area  of  about  40  miles  from  north  to  south,  and  50  miles  from 
east  to  west,  or  about  2,000  square  miles,  called  by  Dr.  Hayden,  in 
1869,  the  "Monument  Creek  Group,"  from  the  fact  that  the  atmo- 
spheric agents  have  cawed  out  of  the  beds  peculiar  monuments  or  col- 
umns. He  referred  the  deposits  to  Miocene  or  Pliocene  age  ;  later,  in 
1873,  Prof  Cope,  'lom  the  evidence  of  the  hind  leg  and  foot  of  an  Ar- 
tiodactyle,  and  a  frngnient  of  Megaceratops  coloradoeiisi's,  referred  the 
deposits  on  the  Colorado  divide,  [)erhaps  tiie  same,  to  the  age  of  the 
Miocene.     The  texture  of  the  rocks  is  quite  varied. 

The  lower  portion  is  composed  of  rather  massive  beds  of  sand- 
stone, varying  from  a  pudding-stone  to  a  fine-grained  sandstone,  usu- 
ally of  a  light  color,  sometimes  of  a  yellow  or  iron- rust,  with  their  in- 
tercalations of  arenaceous  clay.  In  the  distance,  the  whole  group,  in 
many  localities,  presents  a  chalky-white  a|)p3arance.  At  the  im 
mediate  base  of  the  mountains,  just  south  of  tlie  small  lake  on  the  di- 
vide, the  rocks  are  variegated  sandstones,  brick  red,  whits  and  yellow, 
varying  in  texture  from  a  fine  sandstone  to  a  pudding-stone,  with  all 
the  signs  of  deposition  in  moving  waters.  Still  farther  north,  on  the 
divide  proper,  the  beds  jut  against  the  granites,  inclining  not  more 
than  3°,  and  are  made  up  of  a  coarse  aggregate  of  feldspar  and  quartz 
crystals,  so  that  it  resembles  a  verj'  coarse  granite.  It  is  plain  that  the 
sediments  of  this  group  were  derived  very  largel}'  from  the  granitoid 
rocks.  The  sediments  become  finer  and  finer  as  they  recede  eastward 
from  the  foot  of  the  nioupcains  into  the  plains. 


U.  S.  Geo.  and  Gcogr.  Siir    of  Colorado  and  Adjacent  Territory. 


252 


Tertiary. 


i    1 


It 


To  the  eastward  of  the  line  of  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  Railroad, 
the  surface  is  cut  up  into  more  or  less  retdangular  masses,  with  rather 
broad  table  shaped  summits,  varying  from  400  to  800  feet  in  height. 
The  sides  are  often  ver^'  steep,  almost  inaccessible.  At  a  remote  period 
in  the  past,  the  erosion  has  been  very  great,  carving  out  by  an  almost 
inappreciably  slow  process,  these  broad  valleys,  leaving  these  biittes 
here  and  there,  composed  of  horizontal  beds,  to  aid  in  forndng  sonu' 
conception  of  the  amount  of  denudation  which  has  taken  place.  It  is 
not  possible  at  the  present  time  to  estimate  the  original  thickness  of 
this  group,  but  believe  it  to  have  been  very  mucli  greater  than  the 
highest  ))eds  now  existing  would  indicate.  The  summits  of  many  of 
the  butles  are  capped  with  a  greater  or  less  thickness  of  a  beautiful 
purplish  trachyte,  which  must  have  ascended  in  the  form  of  dikes  from 
beneatli,  and  flowed  over  the  surface.  Much  of  the  trachyte  is  a  sort 
of  breccia,  composed  of  rather  coarse  sandstones,  which  must  have  been 
caught  In  the  melted  material.  ^  It  is  quite  evident  that  these  outflows 
occurred  during  the  existence  of  the  lake,  though  at  a  late  period.  Dr. 
Hayden  synchronized  the  age  of  this  group  witu  the  upper  portion  of 
the  White  River  (iroup  far  to  the  northward,  and  probably  with  tlu' 
fresh  water  deposits  in  the  South  Park. 

Lake  basins  have  occupied  a  large  part  of  the  country'  from  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien  to  the  Arctic  Circle.  In  many  instances  they  were 
niereh'  expansions  of  river  valleys,  like  the  greater  number  of  the  lake 
basins  of  the  present  time.  During  the  later  Cretaceous  and  early 
Tertiary  periods,  the  western  portion  of  the  continent  was  covered 
with  immense  lakes,  but  during  the  Pliocene  and  the  interval  to 
modern  time,  thousands  of  small  lakes,  with  a  few  of  large  size,  were 
distributed  over  the  great  area  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  basins 
with  their  peculiar  deposits  are  found  in  the  parks,  among  the  moun- 
tains, and  along  every  impo.tant  valley. 

Dr.  Hayden  believed  there  are  evidences  of  glacial  action  and 
morainal  deposits  in  the  valley  of  the  Upper  Arkansas  river,  at  eleva- 
tions of  9,000  feet  and  upward,  and  along  both  flanks  of  the  Siiwatch 
mountains;  but,  he  said  that  he  observed  no  pi'oof  of  any  wide  ex- 
tended drift-action,  like  that  of  the  New  England  States,  in  the 
Rocky  mountains,  as  the  superflcial  deposits  are  all  of  local  origin, 
and  the  source  is  limited  to  the  drainage  of  the  streams  in  which  the 
deposits  are  found.  For  example,  all  the  marls  and  coarser  deposits 
in  the  valley  of  the  Upper  Arkansas,  have  the  same  origin,  and  the 
forces  that  produced  them  were  limited  geographically  to  the  drainage 


Mesozoic  and  Catnozoic  Oeologtj  and  Paloiontology. 


253 


of  that  stream.  That  not  a  fragment  of  rock  had  been  transportp' 
even  from  so  short  a  distance  as  beyond  the  drainage  west  of  clie 
Savvatch,  or  east  of  the  Park  ranges.  lie  phiced  tlie  superlicia'  de- 
posits in  one  great  period,  extending  from  tlie  Pliocene  up  t  <  tlie 
present  time,  because  in  the  aggregate  tlie\'  afford  no  pre  f  of  any 
break  in  tlie  order  of  time.  In  the  valley  of  Roaring  Fork  in  the  Elk 
mountains,  the  morainal  deposits  aie  remarkable  for  their  thickness. 
The  surface  is  covered  with  huge  bowlders,  some  angular,  and  others 
partially  rounded.  'J'he  terraces  are  very  conspicuous,  rising,  in  some 
instances,  to  1,000  feet  or  more  above  the  bed  of  the  stream,  and 
strewed  over  with  huge  bowlders.  None  of  the  stray  materials  in  any 
of  the  valleys  or  gorges  seem  to  have  been  transported  a  very  great 
distance,  and  never,  under  any  circumstances,  is  there  any  drift  or 
glacial  deposits  from  a  neighboring  drainage  ;  in  other  words,  the 
loose  material  does  not  pass  from  one  independent  valley  to  another. 
So  it  is  all  over  the  Rocky  mountain  region.  All  the  drift  or  Post- 
pliocene  deposits  are  local. 

Prof.  E.  D.  Cope*  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  New  Mexico,  the 
giant  bird  Dlafnjma  gigantea;  and  from  the  Pliocene,  phosphate  beds 
of  iSotith  Carolina,  Cgclotow^don.  vagrans. 

Prof.  0.  C.  Marslif  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  the  Rock}'  moun- 
tain region,  Eohlppiis  validiis,  E.  pernix,  Parahyvs  vagus,  Dromo- 
cgon  vorax^  Dryptodon  crassus,  and  Coryphodon  hamatus. 

Dr.  Joseph  Leidy;];  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  New  Jersey,  3fy- 
liohates  fnstigidlus,  and  M.  jugosus;  from  the  Pliocene  beds  of  Ash- 
ley river.  South  Carolina,  Belemnoziphins  prorops,  Choneziphius  Hops. 
C.  trachops,  Eboroziphius  coelops,  Proroziphius  marrops,  3Iyliobate.-< 
magister,  31.  mordax,  and  Proroziphius  chonops. 

Pro!'.  C.  A.  White§  descrilied,  from  the  Eocene  at  liijou  basin, 
10  miles  east  of  Denver,  Coorada,  (Jorbic(da  pou'elli,  Mesodesma, 
bishopi,  Phorus  exoneratus ;  from  Crow  creek,  3felania  larunda;  from 
the  West,  Tulofoma  thonipsnni ;  from  the  Lower  Green  River  Group, 
8  miles  below  Green  River  station,  Wyoming,  Helix  riparia  ;  from  the 
Upi)er  Green  River  Group,  at  Henry's  Fork  and  Alkali  station,  Unio 
shoshonensis.  Succinea  paiiillispira,  Papa  incolafa,  and  P.  nrenula. 
Prof.  F.  H.  Meek||  described,  from  the  White  River  Group,  on 
Pinot's  creek,  Limnaia  slnimardi. 

*  Proc.  Acad.  Niit.  Sei. 

t  Am.  Jour.  Sei.  and  Arts,  3d  ser.,  vols,  xi  and  xii. 

X  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sei. 

§  Goo.  of  Uinta  Mountain?. 

II  Ilayden's  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 


M 


■■!'■; 


[\ 

% 

,i. 

•1 

i .  i 

254 


Tertiary. 


G.  T.  Bettany"'  dcscriberl,  tVom  the  Miocene  of  John  Day's  river, 
Oregon,  Merycoc/nrrus  leidyi,  and  31.  temporalis. 

J.  A.  Allenf  described,  from  the  lead  crevices  and  snporficial  strata 
of  the  lead  region  of  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Illinois,  of  supposed  IMio- 
ccne  age,  Canis  mississippien.'ii.s,  and  Cercns  whitiwyi.  Charles  M. 
Wallace  found  flint  implements  in  the  stratified  d^-ift,  near  Richmond, 
Virginia,  which  he  referred  to  Post-pliocene  age. 

In  1877,  Dr.  F.  M.  Endlich^  found  the  Puerco  Group  forming  the 
lowest  member  of  the  Wasatch,  and  well  developed  in  southern  Colora- 
do. It  was  best  observed  on  the  Lower  Animas,  where  it  consists  of 
1,000  to  1,200  feet  of  variegated  shales  and  marls.  At  the  base,  they 
are  a  muddy  green,  changing  into  yellow  or  almost  blue.  Farther  up. 
pink,  pale  orange,  lilac,  and  reddish  colors  predominate,  varied  by  in- 
terstrata  of  white  or  light  yellow.  Thin  beds  of  sandstone  merely  of 
local  occurrence,  however,  separate  these  beds;  not  forming  definite 
recognizable  horizons.  Farther  east,  these  variegated  marls  gradual- 
ly change  into  shales  and  sandstones,  so  that  they  are  no  longer 
characteristic.  Above  them  there  occur  1,000  feet  of  yellow  to  brown 
sandstones  and  shales.  As  a  rule  the  beds  of  sandstone  are  heav}', 
weathering  massively,  but  thev  frequently  show  but  small  thickness, 
and  are  interstratified  with  vellow  andgi'ayish  shales.  Tn  some  of  the 
shales,  indications  of  coal  may  be  observed,  but  nowhere  throughout 
the  San  Juan  region  was  any  vein  found  that  would  have  been 
sutTiciently  large,  or  of  good  qualit}-  to  be  worked. 

All  the  lower  canons  of  the  San  Juan  di-ainage,  and  that  of  the  river 
itself,  are  formed  by  this  series  of  sandstones,  and  others  superin- 
cumbent. Over  the  entire  region  which  they  cover,  they  are  uniform, 
both  in  occurrence  and  in  lithological  character.  Their  very  small 
dip  to  the  south,  2°  to  1°,  and  their  total  thickness  of  3,000  feet,  en- 
ables them  to  extend  over  a  large  area  of  country. 

Dr.  li.  F.  Mudafe  found  the  Pliocene  strata  of  Kansas  restinc:  direct- 
ly  upon  the  Cretaceous.  The  material  of  the  Pliocene  deposits  con- 
sists of  sandstone  of  various  shades  of  gray  and  brown,  occasionally 
whitened  by  a  small  admixture  of  lime.  The  lower  strata  are  usually 
composed  of  finer  sand  than  the  upper,  and  much  more  loose  and 
IViable  in  their  texture.  The  overlying  beds  are  of  coarser  ingredients, 
consisting  of  water-worn  pebbles  of  metamor[)hic  rocks,  quartz,  green- 


'■'  Quar.  .Tour.  Geo.  Sop.  Lond.,  vol.  xxxii. 
T  Am.  .Jour.  Soi.  and  Arts,  Hd  ser.,  vol.  xi. 
t  9th  Ann.  Rep.  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geolor/y  and  Pahvonf.oloify, 


255 


stone,  jTranito,  syenite,  and  sometimes  fragments  of  fossil  wood  from  an 
older  formation.  These  portions  of  the  deposit,  when  erumbled,  and 
the  finer  parts  washed  away,  have  miieli  the  appearance  of  drift,  and 
have  been  mistaken  for  it. 

At  IJreadbowl  iMound,  Phillips  county,  it  is  about  200  feet  above 
Deer  creek,  and  at  Sugarloaf  Mound,  in  the  western  part  of  Rooks 
county,  it  is  about  300  feet  above  the  Solomon  river.  On  Prairie  Dog 
creek,  in  Norton  count}',  it  is  400  feet  in  thickness,  and  in  the  extreme 
northwestern  part  of  the  State  it  is  still  thicker.  The  formation  like 
all  the  rest  in  the  State,  appears  to  dip  slightly  to  the  northwest. 

Tn  the  southern  portion  of  the  T^liocene,  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Wallace  and  Sheridan,  the  hill-tops  are  covered  with  a  stratum  about 
eight  feet  in  thickness,  very  hard  and  siliceous.  The  material  varies 
from  coarse  flint-quartz  to  chalcedony.  The  latter  mineral  shades 
from  milk  white  to  transparent,  sometimes  presenting  a  semiopal  ap- 
pearance. The  so-called  moss  agate  is  found  in  the  upper  few  inches 
of  the  stratum.  This  cap  rock  is  interesting  to  the  mineralogist  by 
showing  the  moss  agate  in  its  various  stages  of  formation.  The  lower 
portion  of  the  eight  feet  indicates  an  imperfect  chemical  solution  of 
the  silica  and  black  oxide  of  manganese,  therefore  the  crystalization 
of  the' latter  is  imperfect.  As  we  examine  the  strata  from  the  bottom 
to  the  top,  we  iind  the  chemical  conditions  more  favorable  and  com- 
plete, so  that  the  distinct  quartz,  chalcedonj',  and  manganese  of  the 
bottom  become  more  commingled  toward  the  upper  inch  or  half  inch, 
where  the  silica  must  have  been  sutliciently  fluid  to  allow  the  man- 
ganese to  assume  the  form  of  sprig  crystals.  This  peculiar  deposit  is 
common  on  all  the  high  hill-tops  of  Wallace  county. 

In  King's  Geo.  Sur.,*  the  Tertiary  is  divided  into  Eocene,  jNIiocene, 
and  Pliocene,  each  of  which  is  again  subdivided  in  ascendinu*  order  as 
follows.  Eocene — 1.  Vermillion  Creek  Group  ;  2.  Green  River  Group; 
3.  Bridger  Group  ;  4.  Uinta  Gi'oup.  IMiocenc — 1.  White  River  Group; 
2.  Truckee  Group.  Pliocene — 1.  North  Park  Group  ;  2.  Humboldt 
Group  ;  3.  Niobrara  Group  ;  4.  Wyoming  Conglomerate.  The  "Ver- 
million Creek  Gi'oup,"  is  a  synonym  of  the  Wasatch,  and  the  "  Uinta 
Group,"  of  the  lirown'sPark  Group,  and  worse  than  all,  the  "Niobrara 
Group"  was  a  pre-occiipied  name  for  a  Cretaceous  Group. 

S.  B\  Emmons  estimated  the  Eocene  of  the  Green  river  basin  at 
7.500  feet  in  thickness.     The  beds  of  the  Wasatch  series,  which  are 


*  (Jeo.Sur.,  40thPiiraUel. 


F 


25G 


Tertiary. 


■'I 


,i  5' 


•    I 


chiefly  arenaceous,  were  deposited  in  greatei-  tlilckness  tlian  eitlier  of 
the  other  groups,  and  extended  from  the  base  of  tlio  Park  range  to 
the  flanks  of  the  Wasatcli  mountains.     The  beds  of  the  Green    river 
series  contrast  with  those  of  tl)e  otlier  two  groups  by  the  rehitive  prev- 
alence of  calcareous  material,  and  the  fineness  of  their  sediments.  Tiiey 
consist  of  a  lower  series  of  calcareous  sandstones  and  impure  limestones, 
containing  some  lignite  seams,  overlaid  by   a  great  thickness  of  re- 
markably fissile  calcareous  shales,  abounding  in  remains  of  fish  and 
insects,  which  reach  an  aggregate  thickness  of  about  2,000  feet,    and 
are  characterized  throughout  by  their   prevailing   white   color.     Tlie 
Bridger  Group  consists  of  a  thickness  of  about  2,500  feet  of  arenaceous 
beds,  with  a  small  development  of  calcareous  material,  of  a  prevailing- 
dull,  greenish-gray  color,  characterized  by  the  great  quantity  of  verte- 
brate remains  which  have  been  buried  in  them.     Its  greatest  develop- 
ment is  in  the  southern  portion  of  the  Bridger  basin.     In  the  Washakie 
basin,  on  the  western  borders  of  the  Little  Muddy  creek,  and  at  Wash- 
akie mountain  and  Cathedral  bluffs,  the  Wasatch  series  are  exposed, 
weathering  in  castellated  forms,  and  recognizable  from  great  distances 
by  their  bright  pinkish  and  reddish    coloring,     Washakie  mountain 
and  the  line  of  bluffs  which  extend  to  Cathedral  bluff's,  are  formed  of 
beds  of  the  Green  river  series  in  the  upper  portion,  and  with  tl>e  red 
Wasatch  beds  at  the  base,  the  line  of  division  can  be  distinctly  traced, 
descending  somewhat  in  horizon  toward  Barrel  springs,  and  ascending 
again   beyond  toward   Cathedral  bluffs.     A  section  taken    at  Sunny 
Point,  near  Little  Snake  river,  gave  a  thickness  from  the  river  to  the 
summit  of  the  cliff'  of  about  2,000  feet.     The  upper  'J50  feet  belonging 
to  the  Green  river  series,  and  the  remaining  1,050  feet  to  the  Wasatch 
Group.     The  Green  Kiver  Group  is  exposed  in  the  valley'  of  Brown's 
Park,  which  is  a  bay-like  depression,  from  6  to  8  miles  in  width,  occu- 
pying the  geological  axis  of  the  eastern  end  of  the  Uinta  mountains, 
from  1,000  to  l.,200  feet  in  thickness.     Throughout  the  valleys  of  the 
Little  Snake  and  Yampa  rivers,  these  groups  have   been    worn  into 
rounded  ridges,  where,  generally,  only  disintegrated  material  is  found. 
In  the  basin  of  Vermillion  creek,  thebcils  of  the  Wasatch  Group  have 
their  greatest  development.     It  was  on  one  of  the  broad  benches,   be- 
tween the  branches  of  this  creek,  to  the  east  of  Rub}-  Gulch,  that  the 
originators  of  the  famous  diamond  fraud,  of  the  summer  of  18711,  lo- 
cated their  pretended  discovery.     An  exposure  of  coarse,  iron- stained 
sandstone,  on  the  surface  of  the  mesa,  at  the  foot  of  Diamond  Peak, 
was  strewn  by  them  with  rough  diamonds  and  rubies,  which  were  in- 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geology  and  PaUtontology. 


257 


I 

r 
If 


genioiisly  mixed  with  tlie  soil  around,  so  as  to  make  it  appear  that  they 
came  from  tlie  decomposition  of  the  sandstone. 

Along  Bear  rivei-,  in  Utah,  from  Bear  River  City  to  Evanston,  the 
hills  on  either  side  are  occui)ied  by  the  nearly  horizontal  beds  of  the 
Wasatch  Group.  The  greater  part  of  Bear  river  phiteau  is  covered 
with  a  considerable  thickness  of  these  beds,  which  are  in  general  rather 
coarser  and  more  conglomeratic  than  those  of  the  Aspen  plateau.  Its 
summit  varies  in  width  from  2  to  4  miles,  beyond  wb.ich  to  the  east- 
ward these  beds  are  oxposed  in  the  deep  canons  of  Woodruff,  Randolph 
and  Saleratus  creeks,  from  2,000  to  2,800  feet  in  thickness; 

He  found  the  Savory  plateau  region  covered,  principally,  b}'  hori- 
zontal beds  of  the  North  Park  Tertiar\',  which  he  referred  to  the  Plio- 
cene, and  which,  as  proved  by  exposures  in  the  deeper  cuts,  on  its 
northern  edge,  overlie  tlie  upturned  edges  of  Cretaceous  and  earlier 
beds,  while  the  higher  portions  of  the  ridges  are  capped  by  remnants 
of  the  Wyoming  conglomerate.  The  best  exposures  are  found  in  the 
open  valleys  at  the  heads  of  Savory  and  Jack's  creeks,  and  on  the 
pass  between  the  Archaean  body  of  the  Grand  Encampment  mountains 
and  the  Savor}^  plateau.  A  thickness  of  not  less  than  1,000  feet  of 
these  beds  is  here  exposed,  which  is  made  up  in  the  upper  portion  of 
a  thickness  of  about  300  feet  of  a  'Irab,  earthy,  somewhat  porous,  lime- 
stone, sometimes  inclosing  small  pebbles,  underlaid  by  beds,  wliich 
grade  off  insensibly  from  lim^-  sandstones  into  coarse  gravel  beds. 

They  occupy  the  valley  of  the  North  Platte  to  the  South  of  Jack's 
creek,  forming  long,  gentle  slopes,  extending  up  from  the  river  to  the 
flanks  of  the  Grand  Encampment  mountain,  which,  thougii  so  covered 
b}'  recent  deposits  that  only  few  exposures  of  the  underlying  Tertiary 
are  found,  suflicientl}^  show  the  continuity  of  their  original  deposition. 
Their  beds  may  be  traced  along  the  line  of  bluffs  bordering  the  vallc}' 
of  Sage  creek  on  the  south  and  west.  Here  the  upper  member  is  a 
hard  sUicious.shale,  more  like  an  older  rock,  under  which  are  seen  the 
white  limy  sandstones  ;  the  lower  beds  being  concealed  beneath  debris 
accumulations. 

Arnold  Hague  found  the  Whit^  River  Group  along  the  south  and 
east  face  of  Chalk  bluffs,  in  Wyoriing,  resting  unconformably  upon 
the  Laramie  Group,  and  protruding  from  beneath  the  Pliocene  beds. 
The  strata  are  exposed  near  Carr's  station,  on  the  Denver  Pacific 
Railroad,  eastward  across  Owl  creek,  the  tributaries  of  Crow  creek,  and 
beyond.  The  thickness  of  the  group  is  estimated  at  300  feet,  and  is 
of  Miocene  age. 


Pfp 


258 


Tertiary. 


I'  > ' 


\^ 


%      f 


I  . 


He  estimated  the  thickness  of  this  Pliocene  lake  strata,  which  he 
called  the  Niobrara  Pliocene  exposed  in  Wyoming,  at  from  1,200  to 
1,500  feet. 

The  beds  are  found  lying  unconformably  upon  the  older  uplifted 
strata,  and  overlapping  the  area  of  the  Miocene  basin.  South  of  the 
Union  Paciiic  Railroad,  they  occur  abutting  against  Mesozoic  foima- 
tions;  just  north  of  Granite  Canon,  they  lie  next  the  Archaean  mass  ; 
and  a  short  distance  beyond,  at  the  mouth  of  Crow  Creek  canon,  are 
found  essentially  horizontal  against  nearly  vortical  Palaeozoic  lime- 
stones. From  Crow  creek,  northward,  they  may  be  seen  resting  direct- 
ly upon  every  formation,  from  the  Ardnean  to  the  Fox  Hills  Group. 

The  strata  consists  of  marls,  clays,  coarse  and  line  sandstones,  con- 
glomerates, with  some  nearly  pure  "limestones.  Fine,  marly  sand- 
stones are  .the  predominant  beds. 

Overlying  the  Pliocene  lake  deposits  on  Sybille  creek  and  its  tribu- 
taries, and  in  the  region  of  Chugwater  and  Pebble  creeks,  tliere  occur 
beds  of  coarse  and  fine  conglomerate,  having  a  thickness  of  DOO  or  400 
feet.     These  beds  have  been  called  the  Wyoming  Conglomerate. 

In  North  Park,  Pliocene  beds  lie  unconformably  upon  the  older 
rocks,  resting  in  places  against  every  formation  from  Archuian  to  the 
top  of  the  Cretaceous,  and  are  seen  in  undisturbed  condition  resting 
against  the  basalts.  They  extend  over  the  entire  Park  basin,  giving 
it  the  level,  prairie-like  aspect,  which  it  presents  from  all  the  higher 
elevations. 

He  referred  the  Tertiary  beds  in  the  eroded  basins  and  valleys  worn 
out  in  the  rhyolite  in  the  Toyabe  range  of  the  Nevada  basin,  and 
noticable  on  Silver  and  Boone  creeks  to  the  Truckee  INriocene. 

S.  F.  p]mmons  found  the  same  formation  in  the  valley  of  Reese 
river,  near  Ravenswood  Peak,  along  the  foot  hills,  both  to  the  east 
and  west  of  the  Soldier's  Spring  Vallej'  basin,  in  the  low  depression  of 
Indian  valley,  and  in  the  re-entering  bay  north  of  Black  Canon,  with 
a  thickness  of  over  700  feet. 

The  Truckee  Miocene  is  so  named  from  Truckee  range,  Nevada, 
which  extends  in  a  north  and  south  line  for  72  miles,  and  consists,  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  distance,  of  a  single  narrow  ridge,  barel}'  more 
than  5  miles  from  base  to  base,  but  widening  considerably  at  the 
southern  end,  where  it  is  made  up  of  broad  fields  of  Tertiary  eruptive 
rocks. 

Alfred  R.  C.  Selwyn  said*  that  between  Blackvvater  and  Stewart's 

'•■  Geo.  Sur.  of  Canada. 


Mesozoic  niid  Ctvnozoic  Geoloyn  and  Palcboiitoloyy. 


'J)\) 


Lake,  and  thence  to  the  Finlny  Rapiils,  on  Pence  river,  the  country, 
with  some  exceptions,  is  more  or  less  overspread  with  drift  material  ; 
much  of  this  lias  been  derived  from  the  abrasion  of  the  Tertiary  for- 
mations, tlirough  which  many,  of  the  principal  valleys  of  the  country 
iiave  been  cut,  exposing  alternating  beds  of  clay,  lignite,  sand  and 
rounded  gravel,  capped  b}'  vast  sheets  of  volcanic;  products,  chlcitly 
porous  and  compact  lavas — columnar  and  concretionary — and  dense 
dolerite,  forming  high  hills  or  undulating  st.iny  table-lands,  such  as 
that  which  is  crossed  by  the  wagon  road  between  Clinton  aiul  Bridge 
creek,  at  an  elevation  of  4,000  or  5,000  feet.  From  Mr.  Horetzky's 
description  of  the  abrupt  character  of  the  country  on  the  iSusqua 
river,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Stager  on  the  Skeena,  these  Tertiary 
volcanic  products  are  supposed  to  be  extensively  developed  in  that 
region.  The  lignite  Tertiary  strata  which  are  assumed  to  have  pre- 
ceded the  latest  of  these  volcanic  outbursts,  occupy  undefined,  but  ex- 
tensive ;ircas  between  Fort  George  and  McLeod's  lake  ;  and  probably 
continue  thence  lo  the  valley  of  Nation  river,  with  only  such  interrup- 
tions as  are  the  result,  partly,  of  the  original  unevenness  of  the  sur- 
faces upon  which  they  were  laid  down,  and  partly  of  the  subsequent  de- 
nuding agencies  to  which  they  have  been  subjected,  giving  rise  to  out- 
crop[)ings  of  the  older  rocks,  either  as  hills  or  ridges  rising  above  the 
general  level  of  the  country,  or  appealing  as  rocky  bars  or  canons  in 
tiie  deep-cut  channels  of  the  rivers.  The  general  similarity  of  some  of 
the  sands  and  gravels  of  the  drift  period  to  those  of  Tertiary  age, 
makes  it  difficult,  without  close  and  critical  examination  of  each  ex- 
posure, to  determine  to  which  period  they  should  be  referred,  and  the 
distribution  of  the  drift  upon  the  Tertiary  deposits  is  so  irregular  as  to 
make  it  quite  impracticable  to  define  their  respective  limits. 

At  about  three  miles  below  Nation  river,  a  steep  cliff  rises  on  the 
right  bank  of  Parsnip  river,  from  the  water's  edge  to  70  or  80  feet. 
At  the  base,  stiff  blue  clays  are  seen,  and  these  are  overlaid  b}^  la3'ers 
of  sand  and  fine  gravel,  passing  at  the  top  into  coarse  rounded  gravel. 
This  is,  probably,  near  the  northern  limit  of  the  Parsnip  river  lignite- 
Tertiary  basin,  as  a  short  distance  further  a  rocky  ridge  crosses  the 
river  and  crops  out  in  both  banks,  the  country  then  rising  rapidly,  on 
one  side  to  the  Rocky  mountains,  and  on  the  other  to  the  watershed 
between  the  Omineca  and  the  Parsnip  viveis.  On  the  eastern  side  of 
the  mountains  there  do  not  appear  to  be  any  deposits  which  can  be  re- 
ferred with  certainity  to  the  lignite-Tertiary  series.  At  intervals  along 
the  river,  on  both  sides,  deposits  of  stratified  sand  and  gravel,  cut  into 


Ml 


200 


Tertiary. 


benches  imd  terraces,  extend  from  the  water  to  elevations  of  seven  or 
eijjht  hnndreil  feet.  Somewhat  similar  sands  and  gravels  are  thinly 
spread  over  nian}' parts  of  tiie  great  [)r!iirie  platean,  which  stretches 
eastward  from  the  base  of  the  mountains.  A  section  of  tiiese,  about 
thirty  feet  thick,  consisting  of  bn»wn  sand,  and  reddisij  rusty-looking 
gravel  in  thin  bands,  is  seen  ca[)ping  the  ste('|)  hill  of  I'orizontal  Cre 
taceous  shales  and  sandstones,  whii-h  iises  to  an  clevatictn  of  550  feet 
above  the  rivei',  immediately  in  rear  of  the  Hudson  bay  post  at  Dun- 
vegan.  In  these  high  gravels  the  pebbles  arc  small  and  pretty  uniform 
in  size,  in  which  respect  they  seem  to  diller  from  those  of  the  lower 
benches,  which  are  much  co.'vrser;  the  small  ;  iid  large  pebbles  being 
irregulaily  distril)Uted  through  them.  These  u[)per  gravels  can  not  well 
be  distinguished  from  those  which,  near  Quesnel,  occupy  a  position 
immediately  beneath  the  basaltic  lava  Hows,  and  perhaps  they  belong 
to  the  same  epoch. 

George  31.  Dawson  said  that  along  the  foot  of  the  bank  of  the  Fraser 
river,  in  front  of  the  town  of  Quesnel,  a  considerable  thickness  of  the 
lignite-bearing  formation  is  shown.  The  lowest  seen  is  situated  about 
a  mile  above  the  confluence  of  the  Quesnc  ith  the  Fraser  river,  and 
consists  of  impure  lignites  and  days  with  layeis  of  soft  sandstone  and 
ironstone  concretions.  These  are  followed  in  ascending  order  by  clays 
and  arenaceous  clays  of  pale-grayish,  greenish  and  yellowish  tints, 
with  a  general  southward  or  sonthwestward  dip  at  low  angles.  These 
fill  tii<!  trough  of  a  shallow  synclinal  over  which  the  town  of  Quesnel 
stands.  On  the  south  bank  of  the  Quesnel  river,  the  impure  lignites 
and  associated  beds  rise  again  to  the  surface,  and  in  some  sections  of 
15  or  20  feet,  the  lignite  may  constitute  1-Oth  ot  the  whole.  It  is  not, 
however,  in,  well-defined  beds,  but  interstratified  tlndnghout  with  clays 
and  appears  to  have  been  deposited  in  the  form  of  drift-wood  by  some- 
what rapidly  flowing  water,  and  is  not  so  pure  as  to  be  of  any  economic 
importance.  Small  spots  and  drops  of  amber  are  abundant  in  some 
layers.  Half  a  mile  below  the  mouth  of  the  Quesnel  river,  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Fraser,  a  cliff  exposes  about  100  feet  in  thickness  of  this 
lignitiferous  group.  The  plants,  from  the  Quesnel  beds,  and  also  from 
the  lignitiferous  beds  on  theBlackwater,  are  to  a  great  extent  identical 
with  those  described  by  Prof.  Heer  from  the  "Miocene"  of  Alaskn. 
though  the  age  of  these  beds  may  be  and  probably  is  older  than  the 
Miocene. 

The  basaltic  series,  consisting  of  several  or  many  horizontal  or  over- 
lapping flows,  with  the  exception  of  those  areas  of  older  rocks  protru- 


Mcsozoic  and  C(Bnozoi<;   Ocaloyi)  and  Pahvontoloyij. 


201 


<liii^' tlirouLr'i  them,  or  oxpost^d  in  the  river  valleys  where  Hi(>y  have 
been  eiit  iiwuy,  ex(»'ii(l  from  th<'  lower  portion  of  the  (/hileotin  river 
we^twiird  to  thiit  ptut  of  the  Chihmco  due  sonUi  of  I'lint/  hiiie,  on  lh<' 
r;hilco,  lo  !i  point  Ji  tew  niiUis  went  of  the  lOUh  meridiiui,  iiiiil  on  the 
ChiK'otin  itself,  may  stretch  to  Chizient  lake,  and  thenee  extend  north- 
eastward, their  boundary  nearly  foUowinif  the  Cluseo  river  for  some 
distniH'P.  They  characli  i  izc  the  j^reater  [)art  of  the  Nazeo  valley,  and 
the  pL'itetui  extending  east  and  west  from  it,  and  probablv  reach  the 
western  slope  of  the  range;  of  hills  crossing  the  lilackwatei- at  the  upper 
canon.  The  rocks  exhibited  in  these  Hows  ai'c  usually  true  basalts  or 
doleritcs  of  various  V  \tures,  and  from  irongra}-  to  dark  greenish 
and  nearly  black  coUus,  and  often  contain  much  olivine.  The  vesicles 
are  comparatively  seldom  llUcd  with  infiltrated  minerals,  though  near 
tile  sources  of  the  Na/co  they  are  abno-t  invariably  so,  the  nuiterial 
being  pale  clialcedony,  passing  over  in  some  instances  to  elirysopraze. 
In  this  vicinity,  and  near  (Jinderella  mountain,  some  l)eds  are  wacko 
like  and  scoriaceous,  and  the  soil  of  the  water  shed  region  b  'tween  tlu! 
Nazco  and  Bae-zae  coh.  on  the  Cluscu  trail,  seems  to  l)o  almost  entire- 
ly eom|josed  of  line  rusty  pumicous  fragmcntJi. 

Samuel  IT.  Scudder  (lescril)ed,  froui  a  very  fine  grayislj  and  greenisli 
white  lire-clay,  in  thin  layers,  with  coniferous  and  angiospermous 
leaves  .and  seeds,  8,V  inches  thick,  which  is  sui>erimposed  upon  a  two- 
inch  layer  of  carbonaceous  clay,  or  imi)ure  lignite  or  matted  leaves, 
mingl(!d  with  clay,  and  succeeded  by  Wi)  feet  of  sands  and  clays, 
at  (^uesnel,  the  following  insect  remains,  to-wit:  Formica  (ircnnn, 
JlypocJinia  ohliterdta,  Aphcunoyiistcr  loiuffcva,  PivipUi  decessa,  P. 
so.vea,  P.  se/iecta,  dalyptitcs  iintedUnvkuium,  Bolettna  sepiilta, 
Bracliijpezn  obita,  Ji.  procern,  Trichorifn  dawsoni^  Anfhomyia  inani- 
maffi,  A.  hitrifessi,  Ilctcvomyza  soi/lis,  Sciomyza  revelafa,  Lilh  t'trdis 
pictri,  LoDchnta  .seuesceiis,  PaJ/ojitero  morticina,  Pi'ometopid  dcpih's 
and  Lfichtiiis  petruruni. 

Roliert  Bell,  in  his  report  on  an  exploration  between  James  bay  and 
lakes  Superior  and  Huron,  says,  that  in  the  region  about  the  height 
of  land,  at  the  head  of  the  east  branch  of  the  Montreal  I'iver,  the  lower 
levels  are  fdled  with  gieat  mounds  and  steep  ridges  of  gravel  and 
cobl)le-stones.  The  valley  of  this  river,  for  some  miles  boff»re  it  joins 
the  main  stream,  is  also  cover-  il  with  similar  materials.  'J'lic  first 
limestone  pebbles  were  observed  on  the  MaLtagami,  24  miles  below 
Kenogamisse  Lake.  Along  the  Mif^sinibi  river,  for  many  miles  above 
its  junction  with  the  Mattagami,  a  blue  clay,  onh' occasionally  holding 


:i62 


Tc,t'fi<tni. 


Nl^ 


I'l 


pchblos,  uiiderlloH  the  gray  find  dnil)  liovvldci-  day,  whicli  is  overlaid 
by  gravel,  sand,  and  m'avoUy  earth.  Marine  siielU  were  eollected 
alnnjj;  this  river  from  the  (irand  Rapids,  and  alonj:;'  the  INIissinihi  I'runi 
near  Round  hay,  all  the  way  to  Moose  faetory.  They  appear  to  he 
dcrivecl  IVoni  a  pel)l)ly,  dial)  day,  associated  with  the  bowlder  drill. 
The  "reatest  elevation  alxtve  the  sea  at  which  they  were  collected,  is 
about  IJOO  feet,  but  thoy  were  found  alon^  the  Kenoj^anii.  a  brjineh  of 
.Vlhany  river,  at  the  hei'>;ht  of  450  feet.  Ainon<«-  the  fossils  collected 
.are,  1th  ipw  lumen  a  ps'ittdceo^  Led<i  truncate,  L.  pcrnuhi,  CUtrdium 
islandiaiim,  Te/h'iid  (/ra-nlnndica,  Mfieoma  sdhidomt,  Sdxlr.ftna  (trctt'cn, 
Balainis  crennfus,  Jfi/a  areiKwiii,  M.  frnncttfa,  Mytilua  edu/is,  .and 
liiuu'.iiium  iinddfinn. 

Milne  and  Murray*  found  the  drift  on  Newfoundland  containing 
shells  similar  to  those  still  livin;?  in  the  surroundinu^  sea,  as  well  as 
striated  angular  stones,  terraces,  and  raised  beaches  tending  to  show 
that  Newfoundland  was  at  no  very  remote  period  l)elow  (he  present 
level  of  the  sea.  The  surface  of  tlu>  rocks  is  often  roundly  sinootiied 
and  striated  as  if  produced  by  coast-ice  acting  in  a  rising  area. 

Prof,  E.  D.  (>opef  described,  from  the  shaleu  of  the  Green  River 
Group,  Wyoming,  near  the  main  line  of  the  Wasatch  mountains,  Dape- 
doylosxKS  testis,  Diplomystus  denfntiis,  D.  analis,  D.  pectorosiis,  I'Jris- 
inatopteriis  endlirhi,  Amplii.pl fiQci  In'achypterd,  Asineops  pancirddidtHs, 
MioplosHs  dbbrevidtus,  31.  Idbracoides,  M.louf/iis,  M.bedni,  Priscacard 
serrata,  P.  cypha^  ai-id  P.  Hops;  fr(»m  the  Eocene  of  the  Rock^*  moun- 
tain s,|  Cldsfes  Uf/atiKs,  Trioni/x  rddulus,  T.  ventricosus,  Pldstomenns 
stridlis,  Stypolop/iHs  hians,  Tomifherium  tiifmn,  Plesidi'ctomi/s  baccd- 
tus,  Coi'i/phodon  obliquus,  C.  lobdtus,  Orotherium  loewi;  from  the  Loup 
Fork  Group,  Canis  wheeleranus,  Dicrocerus  trildterdlis,  and  D.  teh 
minus;  from  the  Eocenej^  in  Macon  Co.,  Ga.,  Amj)hiemijs  oxy sternum; 
from  the  Upper  Miocene  of  Montana,  Pithecistes  brevifacies,  Brdchy- 
meryx  feliceps,  Cyclopidius  .si7nus,  C  heterodon,  Blastomeryx  bore- 
al is ;  from  the  Loup  Fork  Gi'oup  of  Northwestern  Kansas,  /t/cotyles 
seri(s,  Tetralophodon  cdmpesler ;  from  the  Pliocene  of  Oregon, 
(Jervus  fortis,  Anchybopsis  altdvcits,  A.  anynstdrcas,  A.  (jibbarcus  : 
from  Washington  Territory,  Taxiden  sidcata ;  from  Southwestern 
Texas,  Psendemys  bisornxttus,  Cistudo  mdrnochi,  Anchybopsis  brevi- 
nreus,  and  Cd;nobasileus  tremon  tiger  us. 

'•■•  Geo.  Mag.  2d  ser.,  vol.  iv. 
t  Bull    U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr.,  vol.  iii. 
t  Wheeler's  Sur.  AV.  100th  Mer.,  vol.  iv. 
I  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  See. 


Jlfe.voi'o/c  iind  Cumozoic  Ov.oloyy  und   Pdlifonloloijy. 


2m 


I'rof.  O.  C.  Miirsli*  (loscrilKMl,  from  tlu;  Miocene  of  llu-  Kcuky  moiin- 
lain  rej4i()ii,  Mot'opns  (fisfdiis,  M.  senex,  ami  A/loiui/n  nifviis;  iVoiu  tlie 
Tireeii  Uivor  Groiii)  of  VVyoininu,  UeliolKitns  nuliunn;  :iii(l  fnini  the 
I'lioefsno  of  tlie  Uoelvy  nioiiiitaiiis,  Mitt'opus  e/ntuH,  Tapiraons  nwuxy 
Hinoii/erox,  li.  (il/eiii.  tind  CrocoUilus  .solnris. 

I'rof.  I'\  1{.  Meekt  deserihcil,  from  tlie  .Mioceneiit  Cuclic  valley,  Utulu 
LiiniKva  /I'iiKjL 

Di".  ('.  A.  Wiiite|  (les('ril)e(l,  from  tlu;  VVtisutcli  (ri-oiif)  at  Hlaek  Hiittes 
Station,  VVyoinin;^;,  Unio  proritii.s,  ff.  hol.iii".n(tiiiis,  U.  cudUcki^  U. 
conesi ;  and  iVoni  Wales,  in  Utah,  and  the  'Janon  of  Desolation,  of 
Green  river,  (fiiio  meudax  ;  iVoni  the  Tertiary,,;  at  Last  Blutl",  Utah, 
I*hi/.sa  pleuromaUs ;  and  from  Joe's  Valhiy,   Vi'vipdnts  iotncus. 

In  187S,  Prof.  C.  A.  \Vhite||  said  the  VVasateh  Gi')iip  is  the  lowest  q^ 
a  series  of  three  freshwater  Tertiary  Gronfis,  all  of  wliii!h  are  inti- 
mately connected,  not  only  liy  an  evident  continuity  of  sedimentation 
thronghont,  but  also  by  the  passage  of  a  i)ortion  of  the  moUiiscan 
species  from  one  group  u[)  intcj  the  next  above.  Not  oidy  were  these 
three  groups,  aggregating  more  than  a  mile  in  thickness,  evidently 
produced  by  uninterrupted  seilimentation,  but  it  seems  equally  evident 
that  it  was  likewise  uninterrupted  between  the  Laramie  and  Wasatch 
epochs,  although  there  was  then  a  change  from  brackish  to  fresh 
waters,  and  a  consequent  change  of  all  the  species  of  invertebrates 
then  inlial)iling  those  waters. 

Th(^  Wasatch  Group,  for  v/hich  •'  Vermilion  Creek  Group"  and 
"I/itter  Creek  Group"  are  uncalled  for  synonyms,  in  the  Green  river 
region,  consists  very  largely  of  .  ;;  variegated  bad-land  sandstones, 
that  reach  a  thickness  of  r  H)ut  1,5' <<  feet,  together  with  from  100  to 
;}00  feet  of  the  ordinaiy  in  'isruLcti  sandstones,  alternating  with  bad- 
land  material  at  the  uiise,  a, id  a  siii.  xr  amount  of  similar  material  at 
top,  the  estimated  ag-'  .'^•'*'?  i"  ''.•'  'less  being  about  2,000  feet. 

Kestliig  immediately  and  conformably  upon  the  Wasatch  are  the 
strata  of  the  Green  River  Group.  Although  intimately  connected  with 
the  former  by  continuous  sedimentation  and  specific  identity  of  mol- 
luscan  species,  they  differ  considerably  from  those  of  tiuvt  group  in 
general  as[)ect,  and  in  composition  also.     The  group  is  lithologically 


*  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  3d  sor.,  vol.  xiv. 

t  U.  S.  Geo.  Expl.,  40th  Parallel. 

I  BuU.  U.  S.  Sur..  vol.  iii..  No.  3. 

f,  Wheeler's  Sur.  W.  100th  Mer..  vol.  iv. 

1  10th  Ann.  Rep.  Hayden's  V.  S.  'Jeo.  Sur  Terr. 


264 


Tertiary. 


;h 


,it 


separable  into  a  lower  division,   having  a  thickness  of  about  000  feet, 
and  an  upper  division  liaving  a  thickness  of  about  500  feet. 

Tlie  Bridger  Group  in  the  t^-pical  localities  rests  conformably  upon 
tiie  Green  River  Group,  into  which  it  passes  witliout  a  distinct  plane  of 
demarkation  among  tlie  strata.  Its  molluscan  fossil  remains  corre- 
spond closel}'  with  tliose  of  the  Green  River  Group,  some. of  the  species 
being  tommon  to  botli,  all  indicating  a  purely  fresh  condition  of  the 
waters  in  wliich  the  strata  of  both  groups  were  deposited.  In  the 
valley  of  Red  Bluff  Wash,  between  Raven  ridge  and  Wliite  river,  wiics 
they  are  covered  by  the  Brown's  Park  Group,  the  thickness  is  only 
about  100  feet. 

The  Brown's  Park  Group  is  unconformable  witli  the  Bridger  Group, 
but  it  can  not  be  of  later  date  than  Pliocene,  for  the  following  i-easons; 
In  many  places  the  strata  still  remain  in  a  nearly  horizontal  position, 
but  in  others  they  have  been  considerabl}'  displaced,  as,  for  example, 
by  being  flexed  up  against  the  flanks  of  the  Uinta  mountains,  and  also, 
in  a  similar  manner,  against  the  Dry  mountains,  northeastward  from 
Brown's  Park.  This  shows  that,  altliough  much  movement  of  dis- 
placement took  place  before  the  deposition  of  the  Brown's  Pai'k  strata, 
as  shown  by  their  unconformity  with  those  of  the  older  groups,  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  movement,  even  of  mountain  elevation,  has  taken 
place  since  their  deposition,  Beside  this^  a  large  proportion  of  the  im- 
mense denudation  which  the  strata  of  that  region  have  suffered,  is 
known  to  have  taken  place  since  the  deposition  and  partial  displace- 
ment of  the  Brown's  Park  Group,  because  these  strata  fire  involved  with 
the  others  in  tha't,  denudation.  Furthermore.,  a  remarkably  extensive 
outflow  of  basaltic  ti-ap,  'lovering  a  large  region  whicii  lies  mainly  to 
the  eastward,  but  which  f'ormerl}'  extended  much  within  the  limits  of 
this  district,  took  place  after  the  deposition  of  this  Group,  and  also 
after  it  had  suflfei'ed  displacement  and  erosion  to  some  extent,  at  least. 
This  is  known  to  be  the  case,  because  the  trap  is  found  resting  upon  the 
unevenly  eroded  surface  of  a  portion  of  this  group,  at  Fortification 
Butte.  Tiiat  portion  occupies  a  higher  level  than  does  the  principal 
poition  of  the  group,  and  the  trap  rests  unconformably  upon  the  Lara- 
mie and  Gretaceous  strata,  in  the  imm>;diate  vicinit}-,  as  well  as  upon 
the  Brown's  Park  strata,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  show  that  little,  if  any, 
movement  has  taken  place  since  the  trap  outflow.  The  denudation  of 
tlie  rocks  of  that  region  has  been  so  great  since  the  trap  outflow,  that 
the  latter  rock  has  been  rcnioveil  from  a  large  part  of  the  surface  it 
once  occupied,  leaving  only  here  and  there  mere  shreds  of  the  once  mas- 
sive and  extensive  sheet  upon  the  higher  hills. 


Memzoio  and  Ccnnozoic  Geology  and  PaUeontolouy. 


265 


The  Brown's  Park  Group  occupies  that  expansion  of  Green  rivtr 
valley  wliich  is  known  as  Brown's  Park.  From  tlu^re  it  extends  east- 
ward and  around  the  eastern  end  of  the  Uinta  uplift,  except  a  few  miles 
interruption  of  its  continuity  there,  and  tlience  extends  westward 
along  the  southern  base  of  the  Uinta  mountains  a  large  part  of  the 
length  of  that  range.  It  extenls  northwai'd  from  the  eastei'n  portion 
of  the  Uinta  mountains,  as  far  as  Dry  mf)untains  and  Godiva  ridge. 
Remaining  patches  of  it  show  that  tlie  formation  formerly  extended 
eastward  as  far  as  the  foot  hills  of  the  Park  range.  It  occupies  nearly 
tlie  whole  surface  of  the  western  portion  of  Axial  basin,  comparatively 
small  areas  immediately  east  and  immediately  north  of  Yampa  moun- 
tain, and  a  considerable  portion  o^t'ie  space  between  Junction  moun- 
tain and  the  eastern  end  of  the  Uinta  uplift,  all  c"  which  spaces  are  in 
unbroken  continuity.  It,  also,  occui)ies  a  large  space  from  Raven 
ridge  and  Red  Bluff  Wash  extending  far  westward. 

F.  M.  Endlich  observed  the  Wasatch  and  Green  River  Groups 
spread  over  an  area  in  the  White  river  region  of  western  Colorado,  of 
more  than  3,000  square  miles.  A  section  on  Douglas  creek,  a  branch 
of  White  river,  showed  a  tliicknesss  of  1,500  feet  for  the  Wasatch 
Group.  A'stratum  of  brick-red  sandstone,  160  feet  in  thickness,  and 
placed  immediately  below  the  middlo  of  the  Group,  served  as  a  land- 
mark for  identification.  Inferior  beds  of  coal  occur  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  Group.  Groups  of  columnar  monuments,  and  monuments 
composed  of  shales  with  cappings  of  sandstones  are  not  uncommon. 

Fine  exposures  of  the  Green  River  Group  occur  in  the  Book  Cliffs, 
Just  nortli  of  the  Grand  river.  Geognostically  and  lithologically 
speaking,  it  is  separable  into  an  upper  and  lower  division.  The  lower 
arenaceous  division  having  a  thickness  of  2,400  feet,  as  obtained  from 
the  southern  bold  escarpment  of  the  plateau,  and  corroborated  by 
observations  elsewhere  ;  and  succeeded  by  laminated  shales,  having  a 
thickness  of  1,000  to  1,200  feet ;  the  up[)cr  division  consisting  of 
yellow  and  brown  sandstones,  with  thin  interstrata  of  dark  shales,  and 
having  a  thickness  of  1,100  to  1,200  feet.  These  snndstcnc-*,  by  ero- 
sion and  weathering,  have  assumed  many  fantastic  s'-ipes.  some  imi- 
tating the  ruins  of  some  ancient  building,  and  others  rising  in  spires 
for  several  hundred  feet  above  their  gently  sloping  surroundings.  A 
group  of  three  of  these  weathered  monuments  near  Asj)halt  Wash,  in 
White  rivei-  valley,  one  of  which  is  80  feet  liigh,  received  the  name  of 
the  '*  Happy  Family." 

On  the  White  river  drainage  he  oliserved  no  evidence  pointing  to  the 


266 


Tertiary. 


h 


former  existence  of  sjlaciers.  The  numerous  canons  cut  throusfh  the 
soft  shales,  marls,  and  sandstones,  are  formed  so  regularly,  and 
{jgree  so  thoroughly  with  the  pronounced  stratigraphical  conditions, 
that  they  admit  of  no  other  agency  having  shaped  them  than  water. 
Ascending  any  one  of  them  toward  tiie  main  divide,  the  upward  slope 
is  found  very  even,  its  valley  widening  wherever  other  creeks  or  streams 
enter,  and  its  entire  character  in  conformity  with  the  view  regarding 
it  as  the  i-esult  of  the  action  of  flowing  water. 

Dr.  A.  C.  Peale  mude  a  section  of  the  Roan  cliffs,  at  White  Moun- 
tain, on  Grand  river,  where  he  found  the  thickness  of  the  Wasatch 
Group,  measured  by  angles  taken  with  the  gradieuter,  to  be  1,650  feet, 
and  the  Green  River  Group,  2,2S2  feet. 

George  M.  Dawson*  referred  the  lignite  and  basaltic  series  in  the 
l)asins  of  the  Blackwater,  Salmon,  and  Nechacco  rivers,  and  on  Fi'an- 
cois  lake,  in  British  Columbia,  to  one  group,  which,  on  the  evidence 
of  the  fossil  plants,  corresponds  with  the  Miocene  of  Alaska  and  Gi'een- 
land.  The  basaltic  and  other  igneous  flows  form  the  latter  part  of  tlie 
group,  but  blend  with  the  underlying  sedimentary  beds,  and  form  an 
integral  part  of  the  whole.  No  trace,  however,  is  found  of  rocks  due 
to  volcanic  action  since  the  period  of  the  drift.  The  sources  of  the 
immense  flows  of  molten  matter  have  been  numerous  ;  for,  beside  the 
many  dykes  found  traversing  the  older  rocks,  whicli  may,  at  one  time, 
have  been  fissures  giving  exit  to  lava  streams,  beds  characterized  by 
a  roughly  brecciated  character  appear  in  many  places,  and  can  scarce- 
ly have  been  formed  far  from  the  mouths  of  larger  or  smaller  vents, 
capable  of  ejecting  fragments.  Between  the  region  of  the  upper  waters 
of  the  Blackwater  and  Salmon  rivers,  and  the  Bella  Coola,  three 
masses  of  broken  mountains  represent  as  many  centers  of  former  very 
great  volcanic  activity. 

Samuel  H.  Scuddev  described,  from  the  Tertiary  at  Quesnel,  British 
Columbia,  Sciarn  fleperdifa,  Euschistus  antiqnns.  Lachnus  quesneli, 
Bothromicrnmus  Inchlanf,  and  Aranea  colnmbioe. 

The  striae  upon  the  rocks  of  New  Hampshirof  are  extremely  variable 
in  their  course.  A  few  extremes  aro  as  follows  :  S.  2°  E.  ;  S.  83°  E.  ; 
S.  58°  W. ;  N.  40°  W. ;  N.  83°  E. 

Bible  hill,  in  Claremont.  rises  about  350  feet  above  the  plain  of  the 
village,  at  its  northern  bast-.  What  is  supposed  to  be  the  normal  direc- 
tion of  the  strijie  is  abou    S.    L2"  W.,  which  occurs  commonly  west  of 


*<Teo.  Sur.   of  Canada. 

t  Geo.  of  N.   Hampshire,  vol.  iii. 


Mesozoic  and  Civ.nozoic  Geoloffy  and  Pakuontoloyu. 


267 


the  smnmit  of  the  hill  for  two  or  throe  miles,  reaching  beyond  the 
Connecticut.  North  of  the  village,  it  is  S.  15°  E.  ;  among  the  houses, 
S.  41°  E.  ;  and  on  the  east  side  of  the  hill,  S.  23°-25o  E.,  in  a  valley 
leading  to  Unit}'.  On  the  south  slope  of  Green  mountain,  east  of  the 
village,  are  intersections  of  the  almost  east  course  with  that  of  about 
S.  12°  E.  On  the  westerly  side  of  the  top  of  Bible  hill,  the  most  com- 
mon course  is  8.  6°  P^.,  with  S.  25°  E.  This  is  a  half  mile  east  from 
Brown's,  Clark's,  and  Stone's,  where  the  westerly  course  has  been 
noted.  We  now  proceed  three  fourths  of  a  mile  northeast  to  the  "  Flat 
Top,"  a  spur  of  the  hill,  with  scarcely  any  depression  between.  At  the 
commencement,  where  the  northeast  slope  begins,  are  striae  S.  57°  E., 
pointing  back  to  Little  Ascutney,  and  crossing  others  S.  1°  W.  Next 
are  some  8.  46°  E.  pointing  to  Ascutney,  apparently  marked  on  the  lee 
side  of  striiB,  pointings.  1°  W.  to  S.  1°  E.  Another  ledge  has  striie 
8.  46°  E.  crossed  by  others  8.  1°  E. ;  then  8.  16°  E.  crossed  by  8.  41° 
E.,  and  8.  51°  E.,  the  middle  one  the  most  common.  Another  ledge 
shows,  in  a  narrow  compass,  the  courses  8.  21°,  36°,  41°,  and  57°  E. 
Where  the  courses  are  so  numerous,  there  is  a  marked  tendency  to  ir- 
regularity ;  tlie  strioi  do  not  preserve  their  parallelism.  A  change  of 
10°  or  15°  degrees  in  direction  will  occur  in  a  distance  of  less  than  a 
yard.  Flat  Top  hill  shows  more  of  the  irregularities  than  the  highest 
summit  to  the  southwest.  Near  the  a(j[ueduct,  at  the  base  of  Flat  Top, 
the  course  is  8.  17°  E. 

Prof.  E.  D.  Cope*  described,  from  the  Miocene  of  Oregon,  Steneo- 
fiber  (jradatus,  J'Jntopti/chirs  cavifruns,  E,  planifrons,  E.  crassirainis, 
Pleurolicus  siilcifrons,  Meniscomys  hippodus,  M.  niultiplicatus,  Tern- 
nocyon  alfiyenis,  (Janis  caspiyerxs,  U.  (jeismarianus,  Machoirodtus 
strigideiis,  M.  hi'acli.yops,  Anchitherium  eqiciceps,  A.  brachylophutn, 
A.  lonyict'istes,  Stylonm  sevcrsun,  Dmodon  shoshonennis,  and  Ilyopo- 
tamus  yuyotionns. 

He  described, t  from  the  Upper  Miocene  of  3Ioutana,  Ticholeptus  zy- 
yomatlcus;  from  the  Loup  Fork  beds  of  Kansas,  Aphelops  fossiyei\  A. 
malacorhiiius,  n,\\(\  Mylayaidas  sesqiiipedalis ;  from  the  Green  River 
Group,  on  Bear  river,  Wyoming,  Priscacara  oxypi'ion,  P.  pealei,  P. 
clivosa,  D((pedoyl<)Ssus  jquipiiua's  ;  and  from  Florissant,  Colorado,  2'ri- 
chophaxes  foliar um;  from  the  Pliocene  of  Oregon,  Aucheaia  vi faker i- 
(Uia,  M ylodon  sodalis^  Graculas  macropas,  Anner  hypsibatus,  and  Ci/y- 


•■  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc. 

V  Bull   U.  S.  Goo.  Sur.  Terr.,  vol.  iv. 


268 


Teriiary. 


nus  paloregotms;  and  from  a  Ineiistrine,  Post-pliocene  deposit  in  Van- 
dcnbnrg  count}',  Indiana,  (\irlacus  doliohoi^sU. 

Messrs.  Henry  F.  Osborn,  Wrn.  B.  Scott,  and  Fi-ancis  Speir,  Jr.,* 
described,  from  the  Eocene  of  Wyoming  and  Colorado,  Megencephalon 
primoivtis,  Leurocephalus  cultriden.s,  Hyrachyus  iynperialis,  H.  inter- 
medius,  H.  crassidens^  Helaletes  latidens,  I fhygrnrnmodon  cameloides, 
Uintatherium  leidyannm,  U.  princeps,  Paramys  superbns,  Crocodilus 
parvus,  and  Tricop)hanes  cojyei. 

J.  A.  Allenf  described,  from  *"'  ■.;  insect  bearing  shales  of  Florissant 
Colorado,  Palceo.spiza  hella. 

Prof.  Leo  LesquereuxJ  described,  from  the  Pliocene  Chalk  bluffs  of 
Nevada  county,  Ceiliforiiia,  Sahalites  californicus,  Betula  aequalis, 
Fagus  pscudo-ferruginea,  Quercus  nevadensis.  Q.  distincta,  Q. 
gcBpperti,  Q.  royarta,  Q.  pseAidolyrata,  Cafttaneopsis  chrysophylloides, 
Salix  elUptica^  Platmius  njipendicnlata,  P.  dissecta,  Liquidamhar 
californicmn^  Ulmus  californica,  U.  psendofnlva,  Ficus  sordida,  F. 
filiaefoUa,  Aralia  whiineyi,  A.  angusti.loha,  Cornus  kelloggi.  Magno- 
lia lanceolata,  M.  calif ornica,  Acer  aequidenta^Hm,  Zizyphus  micro- 
phyllus,  Z.  piperoides,  Rhus  mixta,  R.  myrciaefolia,  Juglans  cali- 
fornica,  J.  laurinea,  J.  egregia  ;  from  Table  mountain,  Tuoloumne 
county,  Quercus  eUv.noides,  Q.  convexa,  Salix  californica,  Ulmus 
qpinis,  Ficus  microphylla,  Persea  j^seudo-carolinensis,  Cornus  ovalis, 
Acer  holanderi,  Flex  prim  if  alia,  Rluis  typhinoides,  R.  bowenana,  R. 
inetop  aides,  R.  dispersa,  Cercocarpus  antiquus ;  and  fi'om  Oregon. 
Xanthoxylon  diversifolium,  Juglans  oregoniana^  aad  Quercus  boio- 
enana. 

Prof.  W.  H.  DallS  described,  from  the  Pliocene  of  California,  Axinea 
profunda^  Pecten  expansns^  P.  hemphilli,  P.  stearnsi,  Anoniia  limatula, 
and  Scalaria  hemphilli. 

In  1879,  Dr.  A.  C.  Peale||  found  the  Wasatch  Group  in  the  Green 
river  basin  resting  unconformably  upon  strata  from  the  Silurian  to 
the  Laramie:  along  the  southwestern  slopes  of  the  Wind  River  moun- 
tains, upon  the  granitic  rocks;  south  of  Thompson  plateau  upon  the 
Jurassic  rocks  of  Meridian  ridge;  and  north  of  Thompson  plateau  on 
Jurassic,  Cretaceous  and  Laramie  beds.  The  strata  along  the  south- 
western slopes  of  the  Wind  river   mountains    were   evidently  derived 

*  Pal.  Rep.  Princeton  Sci.  Exped. 

t  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  Bd  ser.,  vol.  xv. 

J  Rep.  Foss.  Plants  Aurif.  Grav.  Deposits. 

'i  Proc.  U    S.  Nat.  Museum. 

II  11th  Ann.  Rep.  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 


Mesozoic  and  Ccvnozola  Geology  and  PalcKontology. 


2f)9 


from  the  disintegr.atioii  of  the  granitic  rocks  of  tlie  monntain  range. 
Tliey  consist  of  yellow,  gray,  and  pink  sands  and  marls,  whicli  dip 
from  5°  to  10°  from  the  mountains.  West  of  Gro<m  river  the  charac 
ter  of  the  beds  is  similar  to  tliosc  on  the  east.  They  are  generally 
brick-red  in  color,  and  weather  into  picturesque  bad-land  forms. 
Along  the  edge  of  the  basin  they  are  composed  of  conglomerates  which 
contain  pebbles  of  limestone  derived  from  the  adjacent  mountains. 
The  red  character  of  the  strata  is  due  to  the  wearing  away  of  the  red 
Mesozoic  rocks.  The  thickness  exposed  along  the  western  edge  north 
of  Thompson  plateau  is  from  500  to  800  feet.  On  the  Bear  lake  plateau 
the  thickness  is  greater,  especially  toward  the  west,  and  on  the  eastern 
flanks  of  the  Bear  River  range  it  is  still  greater;  it  increases  also  to 
the  southward  until  it  is  several  thousand  feet  in  thickness.  The  line 
separating  the  Wasatch  from  the  Green  River  Group  is  lithological. 
All  the  variegated  beds  that  lie  below  the  laminated,  light-colored 
sandstones,  are  I'eferred  to  the  Wasatch  Group,  and  all  above  to  the 
Green  River  Gronp. 

The  area  between  Green  river  and  the  Big  Sandy  is  covered  with 
the  Green  River  Group  until  the  northern  portion  ot  the  basin  is 
reached.  North  of  the  New  Fork  it  is  present  only  as  cappings  of  the 
mesas  that  stand  between  the  streams.  Along  the  east  side  of  the 
Green,  from  New  Fork  southward,  the  Green  rivrr  shales  and  sand 
stones  form  bluffs  several  hundred  feet  in  heighi;.  On  the  west  side  of 
the  river  above  La  Barge  creek,  the  group  is  present  only  in  isolated 
mesas.  South  of  that  stream,  however,  it  is  the  surface  formation  ris- 
ing from  Green  river  to  tlie  westward,  and  breaking  off"  in  blutfs  that 
face  Meridian  ridge.  It  consists  of  a  series  of  light  colored  sandstones 
which  are  succeeded  by  calcareous  layers  and  fissile  shales.  In  the 
Ham's  Fork  plateau  the  group  forms  the  surface  of  a  shallow  S3'nclinal: 
it  is  highly  fossiliferous,  and  contains  near  the  top  a  layer  of  bitumin- 
ous shale.  An  excellent  fossil  locality  may  be  found  on  Twin  creek,  at 
the  South  end  of  the  Ham's  Fork  plateau.  It  was  at  Station  14,  south 
of  Horse  creek  and  west  of  Green  river,  where  beds  of  limestone  were 
found  completely  covered  with  the  petrified  cases  of  caddis-flies  de- 
scribed by  Di'.  Scudder,  under  the  nn'ne  o^  Indus i a  calculosa. 

The  Bridger  Group  may  be  observed  extending  northward  from 
Ham's  Fork  toward  Slate  creek,  breaking  oflT  in  low  blutfs,  in  which 
the  sombre  cla^'s  and  sands  of  the  group  are  exposed.  Between  the 
mouth  of  the  Big  Sandy  and  the  Green,  on  the  east  side  of  the  former, 
there  are  va  legated  sands  and  marls  belonging  to  this  group,  which 
weather  into  bad  lands. 


270 


Tertiary. 


'•n 


% 


The  Pliocene  or  Salt  Lake  Group  in  Bear  river  valley  <  nsists  of 
yellow  sands  and  marls,  white  limestones  an. I  shales,  and  pea  green 
shales  and  sands.     The  thickness  is  estimated  at  from  600  to  700  feet. 

The  Salt  Lake  Group  or  Pliocene  of  Cache  valley  is  succeeded  by  a 
later  Pliocene  deposit,  for  which  Dr.  Peale  proposed  the  name  Cache 
Valley  Group.  The  beds  near  the  center  of  the  valley  deposited 
by  the  lakes,  and  still  remaining  in  horizontal  position,  are  those  to 
which  he  applied  this  v.<i\f  name,  but  without  more  reasons  than  he 
adduces  it  would  have  been  just  as  well  not  to  have  proposed  it. 

F.  M.  Endlich  found  east  of  the  Wind  River  Range  a  series  of  varie- 
gated, arenaceous  marls,  resting  upon  the  vellow  sandstones  of  the 
Laramie  Group.  These  are  of  the  age  of  the  Lower  Wasatch  or  Lower 
Pvoccne.  The}'  are  nearly  horizontally  stratified,  and  are  carved  into 
typical  "Bad  Lands"  by  fluviatile  erosion.  A  variety  of  colors 
presents  itself  in  these  marls.  Gray  and  reddish-brown  predominate, 
interchanging,  however,  with  yellow,  white,  greenish,  and  maroon. 
Without  any  apparent  separation  of  strata,  these  colors  and  shades 
form  bands  resembling  well-defined  bedding.  Rapidlj'  denuded  by 
erosion,  the  slojjcs  presented  by  these  marls  are  generally  entirely  bare 
of  vegetation.  Thin  bands  of  highl}'  argillaceous  sandstones,  occurr- 
ing sporadically  within  the  series,  sometimes  give  rise  to  the  forma- 
tion of  low  regular  blufl^s.  These  marls  southeast  of  Beaver  creek, 
have  a  thickness  of  450  to  500  feet.  They  are  supposed  to  bs  parallel 
with  the  Puerco  marls  of  New  ^Mexico  and  Colorado.  They  are  suc- 
ceeded ])y  the  yellow  sandstones  and  shales  of  the  Upper  Wasatch 
Group. 

An  extensive  section  of  the  VV-isatch  Gi'oup  may  be  obtained  north  of 
Salt  Wells.  The  lower  marls  reach  a  thickness  of  600  to  700  feet,  and 
the  npper  sandstones  and  shales  attain  a  thickness  of  about  600  feet. 
A  number  of  volcanic  eruptions  have  taken  place  in  this  region. 
Several  buttes  occur,  from  one  of  which  called  Essex  mountain,  the  ex- 
tension of  the  Wasatch  Group  may  be  traced  by  its  color.  The  Red 
Desert  of  this  region  is  derived  from  the  upper  members  of  the 
Wasatch  Group.  Not  a  drop  of  water  is  to  be  found  in  this  desert. 
The  thickness  of  the  Upper  Wasatch  diminishes  in  the  direction  of  the 
Sweetwater. 

The  Wasatch  Group  is  succeeded  by  the  Green  River  Group. 
Packer's  creek  flows  in  a  southerly  direction  into  Bitter  creek,  a  short 
distance  east  of  Rock  springs.  West  of  it  there  is  a  high  ridge  com- 
posed of  the  light  Green  river  shales.     The  strata  have  a  gentle  dip  to 


Mesozoic  and  Cmnozoic  Geology  and  Pftlwontofo;/!/. 


271 


the  westward.  Krosion  has  removed  largo  masses  of  the  strata,  and 
exposed  the  Wasatch  for  a  number  of  miles  up  stream.  Eastward 
the  Green  River  makes  a  sharp  turn  and  passes  north  of  Essex 
mountain.  In  this  section  the  lower  members  of  the  Green  River  Group 
are  composed  of  gray  and  bluish  shales,  more  or  less  calcareous  and 
arenaceous.  Higher  up  the  shales  are  yellow  and  light  brown,  mostly 
very  ^and}',  but  containing  strata  of  impure  argillaceous  limestones. 
Above  these  follow  concretionary  sandstones  and  shales,  of  yellow  and 
rusty  brown  color.  The  former  contains  one  very  prominent  horizon 
ofsilicious  material,  appearing  in  the  form  of  chalcedony  and  agate. 
Near  the  base  a  thin  seam  of  oolite  occurs.  West  of  Packer's  creek, 
the  total  thickness  of  this  group  is  from  1,700  to  1,800  feet.  Of 
this  the  upper  sandstones  with  their  shales,  occupy  about  800  to  900 
feet,  and  the  arenaceous  beds  near  the  base,  about  loO  to  200  feet, 
which  leaves  an  average  thickness  for  the  shales  of  700  to  800  feet. 
Both  the  shales  and  sandstones  diminish  in  thickness  in  their  north- 
ern extension. 

The  Green  Ri\^er  Group  is  succeeded  by  the  Bridger  Group  in  this 
section,  wherever  the  bluffs  rise  high  above  the  general  level  as  on 
Steamboat  buttcis.  A  thickness  is  pi'eserved  of  about  500  feet,  but 
most  of  the  group  has  been  eroded.  Toward  the  south  and  southwest 
it  becomes  thicker.  On  the  northern  edge  of  the  Sweetwater  plateau  the 
Wasatch  Group  is  succeeded  by  a  local  deposit,  called  the  Sweetwater 
Group.  It  consists  of  brown,  yellow  and  white  arenaceous  marls  and 
clays,  and  near  the  top  some  sandstones  without  clearly  defined  strati- 
ficat'on.  It  is  not  conformable  with  the  Wasatch.  This  group  has 
suffered  greatly  by  erosion,  but  retains  a  thickness  in  some  places  of 
1,200  to  1,400  feet.  The  hills  south  and  southwest  of  Saint  Mary's 
rancli,  the  central  butte  in  Elkhorn  Gap,  the  Sweetwater  hills  and  nu- 
merous bluffs  are  composed  of  the  strata  of  this  group.     It  is  of  Mio- 


cene age. 


The  Sweetwater  Group  is  succeeded  by  the  Pliocene.  Nccirthe  base 
it  consists  of  a  very  loosely  aggregated  sandstone,  of  a  light  gray  or 
yellowish  color.  Above  this  there  is  a  succession  of  light  marls  and 
indurated  clays.  Usually  these  are  either  very  light  yellow  or  white, 
but  pink  and  greenish  beds  are  not  wanting.  Toward  the  eastern  ter- 
mination of  the  group  the  strata  become  highly  silicious.  Thoroughly 
permeated  by  silica,  the  clays  become  very  hard  and  brittle.  The 
former  occurs  also  in  the  shape  of  narrow  veins,  concretions  and  even 
strata.     Innumerable  moss  agates  are  strewn  over  about  six  square 


272 


Tertiary. 


W 


miles,  near  A<j;ato  lakes,  north  of  the  Sweetwater.  All  of  them  arc 
water-worn.  Ttisan  accepted  fact  that  the  "moss"  in  aji^ates  Is  but 
the  result  of  impeded  crystallization.  The  best  exi)osures  of  the  Plio- 
ocene  series  are  low  down  on  the  Sweetwater,  and  along-  the  northern 
edge  of  the  plateau.  The  thickness  is  estimated  at  from  700  to  000 
feet. 

The  Wyoming  Conglomerate  is  structureless,  and  composed  of  the 
most  varying  material.  It  is  the  product  of  all  formations  existing 
within  a  given  area.  Along  the  entire  northern  slope  of  the  Sweet- 
water and  Seminole  hills  there  are  enormous  deposits  of  it.  The  thick- 
ness is  estimated  at  from  10  to  400  feet.  It  is  also  abundant  along  the 
southern  slope  of  the  Sweetwater  mountains,  in  the  Pliocene  valley 
west  of  South  Pass,  and  is  scattered  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  all  over 
the  country,  which  has  been  subjected  to  extensive  erosion.  The 
maximum  accumulation  occurs  along  the  shores  of  the  former  Ter- 
tiary lakes,  and  was  probably  carried  there  by  the  waters  draining  in 
to  them,  and  it  is,  therefore,  of  the  age  of  the  younger  Pliocene  marls 
and  shales. 

George  M.  Dawson*  said  that  in  the  plateau  region  in  the  southern 
part  of  British  Columbia,  lying  east  of  the  Coast  Ranges,  terraces  are 
exhibited  on  a  scale  scarcel_y  equaled  elsewhere.  They  border  the 
river  valleys,  are  found  attached  to  the  flanks  of  the  mountains  to  ji 
great  height,  though  none  have  been  found  in  tliis  region  equal  to  the 
elevation  of  that  on  Ilgachuz  mountain  in  the  n«^rth — 5,270  feet.  The 
higher  terraces  can  be  due  to  nothing  else  than  a  general  submergence 
of  the  country.  Five  of  the  best  marked  terraces  on  the  southern 
slope  of  Iron  mountain,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Coldwater,  have  the  follow- 
ing elevations  above  the  sea,  viz:  2,386,  3,003,  3,392,  3,611,  and  3,715  feet. 
The  Inst  mentioned  is  the  highest  observed,  and  is  quite  narrow. 
Above  this,  the  drift  covering  becomes  thinner,  but  rolled  stones,  some 
of  them  certainly  from  a  distance,  occur  to  the  very  summit — 5,280 
feet  above  the  sea.  The  elevation  of  the  white  silt  terrace  bordering 
Okanagan  lake,  is  200  feet  above  the  lake,  or  1.277  feet  abova  the  sea. 
Leaving  this  to  ascend  the  Okanagan  mountain,  south  of  the  Mission, 
a  great  series  of  high  terraces  is  i)assed  over.  The  heights  of  six  of 
these  are  ns  follows:  1,862,  2.042,  2,141,  2,645,  2,800,  and  2,839  feet. 
On  the  nortliern  slope  of  the  same  mountnin,  six  principal  terraces 
have  the  following  heights:  1,451,  1,579,  1,962,  2,452,  2,553,  and  2,879 
feet. 

*  Geo.  Sur.  of  Ciinnda. 


Mesozoic  and  Ccennzoic  Oeoloyy  and  Pahcontolof/!/,  27:1 


A  hill  on  the  east  siclc  of  IMi-Donnhrs  river,  near  Nicola  lake,  is 
terracoil  at  (liferent  levels  to  the  height  of  800  feet  above  the  lake,  or 
2,600  feet  above  the  sea.  On  the  Cokhvater,  near  the  first  bridge, 
a  terrace  fringes  the  west  i'ule  of  the  valley,  at  the  height  of  200  feet 
above  the  river,  or  2,955  feet  above  the  sea.  On  Whipsaw  creek, 
Similkameen  river,  a  terrace  occnrs  200  feet  above  the  stream  near 
Powder  camp,  or  3,845  feet  above  the  sea.  Between  Powder  camp  and 
Nine-mile  creek  some  of  the  more  prominent  benches  have  the  follow- 
ing elevations  above  the  sea:  2,950,  .3,078,  3,237,  and  3,252  feet.  The 
trail,  when  some  distance  north  of  the  South  Similkameen,  above  its 
junction  with  the  north  fork,  passes  over  several  broad  terrace  flats, 
two  of  these  are  elevated  2,632  and  2,683  feet  above  the  sea.  Near  the 
junction  of  the  north  and  south  forks  a  terrace-flat  occurs  300  feet 
above  the  river,  or  2,264  feet  above  the  sea.  Further  down  the  Simil- 
kameen, in  a  grassy  hill  above  Keremeoos,  a  terrace  is  seen  1,000  feet 
above  the  river,  or  2,300  feet  above  the  sea.  In  a  wide  valley  between 
Okanagan  and  Vermilion  forks,  a  rather  irregular  bowldery  bench  oc- 
curs with  an  elevation  of  3,713  feet.  It  is  on  the  rim  of  the  valley  and 
far  above  the  stream. 

In  the  valleys  of  streams  draining  westward  from  the  mountains, 
there  is  a  remarkable  absence  of  detrital  deposits,  and  though  a  few 
terraces  occur,  the  valleys  are  much  contracted,  and  in  a  region  so 
mountainous  that  it  is  generall}^  difficult  to  decide  precisely  what  sig- 
nificance attaches  to  them.  Not  only  may  some  of  them  be  merely 
river-terraces,  but  others  may  simulate  beach-terraces,  but  owe  their 
origin  solely  to  the  damming  up  of  valleys  b}^  glacier  ice  or  moraines. 
At  the  summit  between  the  Coldwater  and  Coquihalla,  a  terrace  occurs 
at  an  elevation  of  3,28(:t  feet.  On  the  Skagit  another  occurs  at  an 
elevation  of  1,997  feet,  and  on  the  Uztlihoos,  tributary  to  the 
Anderson  river,  narrow  but  well  marked  benches  occur  at  3,087,  and 
3,582  feet. 

Robert  Bell,  in  his  report  on  an  exploration  of  the  east  coast  of  Hud- 
son's bay,  says  that  the  strire  in  the  southern  part  of  the  Eastmain 
coast  have  a  southwesterly  course,  but  in  going  northward  the  direc- 
tion gradually  changes  till  it  has  b(<'ome  nearly  west  at  Cape  Jones. 
From  this  point  northward  the  course  continues  west  and  north  of 
west,  or  toward  the  center  of  the  bay.  The  grooving  is  remarkably 
well  preserved  on  the  bare  hills  and  ou  the  rocks  generally  from  Great 
Whale  river  northward.  In  this  region  one  can  not  help  being  struck  by 
the  more  modern  appearance  of  the  glaciated  surface  than  in  the  inhab- 


w 

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i 

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i 

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wi 

,i  5' 


274 


Terlinnj. 


itt'd  part  of  Canada  to  the  south.  The  t-ourse  of  the  strije  iu  sixty  si\ 
UK'alitios  between  Sherrick's  iMount  an-.l  (Jape  Durt'erin  vary  from  S. 
45°  W.  to  N.  :]5*  W.,  nmny  of  them  a-e  S.  60,°  70,°  or  80°  W.,  wliile 
an  equal  number  are  N.  00,°  70,"  or  80'  W,  The  bowlder  clays  abound 
with  marine  siiells.  He  found  abun(Uint  evidence  that  the  sea  level  is 
falling'  at  a  comparatively  rapid  rate  in  Hudson's  bay.  On  the  ishuuls 
and  shoi'es  all  along  the  Eastmain  coast  the  raised  beaches  are  very 
conspicuous  at  all  heights  up  to  about  thr<;e  hundred  feet,  immc'diately 
near  the  sea,  but,  no  (hxibt,  higher  ones  will  be  fjund  further  inland. 
Driftwood  (mostly  si)ruce)  is  found  almost  everywhere,  above  the 
highest  tides,  in  a  moi'e  and  more  decayed  state  the  higher  above  the 
sea,  up  to  a  height  of  at  least  thirty  feet,  and  in  some  places  up  to 
forty  and  fifty  feet,  above  wliich  it  has  disappeared  by  the  long  ex- 
posure to  the  weather.  Judging  b}'  the  rate  of  decay  of  spruce-wood 
in  this  climate  its  preservation  in  large  (piantities,  during  an  elevation 
of  the  land,  or  ratL:'r  a  fall  in  the  water,  to  the  extent  of  thirty'  feet, 
would  indicate  a  change  in  the  relative  level  of  the  sea,  amounting  to 
perhaps  between  five  and  ten  feet  in  a  century. 

The  striic  observed  at  eleven  places  on  the  east  shore  of  Lake  Win- 
nipeg vary  from  S.  15°  W  to  S.  45°  W. ;  at  thirty-four  places  along  the 
boat  route  from  Lake  Winnipeg  to  Hudson's  bay,  they  var^'  from  S. 
50°  W.  to  S.  20°  E. ;  and  at  twenty -one  places  along  the  Nelson  river, 
from  Great  Playgreen  lake  downward,  tliey  vary  from  S.  25°  W.  to  S. 
80°  W.     The  bearings  refer  to  the  magnetic  meridian. 

G.  F.  Mathew  found  the  course  of  the  grooves  and  scratches  on  the 
rocks  in  the  southern  counties  of  New  Brunswick  having  both  south- 
easterly and  southwesterly  bearings.  A  southeasterly  course  is  most 
prevalent  iu  the  western  part  of  Charlotte  county,  and  a  southwesterly 
course  most  prevalent  in  the  valleys  east  and  northeast  of  St.  John. 
These  two  general  courses,  as  well  as  the  intermediate  ones,  are  con- 
trolled b}'  the  contour  of  the  surface  of  the  laud  in  the  several  districts 
where  they  occur;  for,  as  a  general  rule,  the  furrows  conform  to  the  di- 
rection of  the  river  vallevs,  or  at  least  are  intlueuced  in  their  course  bv 
these  depressions. 

Prof.  E.  D.  Cope*  described,  from  the  Truckee  beds  of  the  White 
River  Group  of  Oregon,  Ilesperoviys  nematodon,  iSciurus  vortmani, 
Paciculus  insoUtus,  Cants  lemur,  Amphicijon  entoptychi,  Archmlurux 
dehilis,  Iloplophoneus platycopis,  Chamohyus  decedens,  Thinohyus  tri- 
chobnus,  Palaiochcerus   aaboiquans,   Jlerycojyater  guiotianus,  Coloreo- 

*  Proc.  Am.  Phil.  Soc 


I  v[: 


Mesozoi'c  (tnd  CiKnozoic  Oeoloyi/  and  Pald-onfoloyy. 


27r. 


don  ferox,  and  C.  macrocejihnlu.s;  EnhydrorAjon  stenncephahts,*  K. 
hasilntusy  now  Ilymnocyon  Ixtnilatvn,  Pvehrotherium  stcrnbcrgi,  Jiooch- 
(Bras  humerosus;  and  from  tho  Loup  Fork  CJroup  of  Cottonwood  creek. 
Oregon,  Lutrictis  lycopotamlcus,  and  Protolabis  trnmmontanus;  from 
the  Green  river  shales  of  Wyoming,!  Xiphofryyon  acutidens;  from 
the  White  river  beds  of  Colorado,  Auchlsudon  tnhifer;  and  from  the 
Post  Pliocene  of  Shasta  county,  California,  Arctolherium  simu)ti, 

Samuel  H.  Scuddei^J  described,  from  the  thinly  bedded,  almost 
paper-like,  yellow,  gray  siliceous  Tertiary  shales,  on  the  North  Fork 
of  the  Similkameen  river,  three  miles  from  its  mouth,  Penlhetria  sim 
ilkameena,  Hygrotrechns  stall,  Cercopis  selwyni,  Planop/ilebia  yigon- 
tea,  Ccblidia  Columbiana;  from  Nine  mile  creek,  which  flov/s  into  Whip- 
saw  creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Similkameen,  Trox  oastaleti,  Gallerucella 
picea,  Tenebrio primiijenins;  and  from  the  Nicola  river,  Kebria  paleo- 
melas,  Cercyou  ( ?)  terrigena,  liuprestis  tertiaria,  B.  sepu/ta,  and 
Cryptohypnus  (?)  terrestris. 

Prof.  J.  W.  Dawson  described,  from  Nine-mile  creek,  Equisetum  sim- 
ilkamense. 

In  1880,  Prof.  E.  D.  Cope§  described,  from  the  Truckee  Miocene  of 
the  John  Day  river,  Central  Oregon,  Nimramis  confertus,  N.  govipho- 
dus,  Pogonodon  brachyops;  P.  platycopis,  Hoplophoneus  cerebralis, 
H,  strigidens,  Dinictis  cy clops;  from  the  Loup  Fork  Group  of  Ne- 
braska, Peraceras  superciliosus;  and  from  a  cave  on  the  Schuylkill 
river,  in  Pa.,  of  Post-pliocere  age,  Smilodon  gracilis. 

Dr.  C.  A.  White||  desci^bed,  from  the  Wasatch  Group,  near  the 
head  of  Soldier's  Fork,  Utah,  Planorbis  militaris;  from  the  Green 
River  Group,  on  Henry's  Fork  of  Green  river,  Wyoming,  Planorbis 
oiqualis,  and  from  three  miles  east  of  Table  Rock  Railroad  station, 
Limncea  minuscida;  and  from  the  Upper  Green  River  Group  of  Henry's 
Fork.  Wyoming,^  Pupa  atavuncula. 

Angelo  Keilprin**  described,  from  the  Eocene  of  Clarke  county,  Ala- 
bama, Cytherea  niittalliopsis,  Pseudoliva  scalina,  Lcevibucciniim 
lineatum,   Fnsus   subtenuis,  F.  interstriatus,    F.  engonat'us,    F.  sub- 


',|!,K 


*  Bull.  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr.,  vol.  v. 
•r  Am.  Nat.,  vol.  xiii. 

I  Geo.  Sur.   of  Canada. 
^  Am.  Nat.,  vol.  xiv. 

II  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus. 

1[  12th  Rep.  U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.  Terr. 
'•■•  Proc.  Acad.  Nat.  Sei. 


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Tertiary. 


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scalarinus,   Pleurotoma   moniliata,   Pyrula  muUangulata,  Solarium 
cupola^  S.  delphinvloides,  and  Dentalium  microstria. 

In  1881,  Prof.  E.  D.  Cope*  described,  from  beds  supposed  to  belong 
to  the  Puerco  Group,  Periptychus  carinidens,  and  Deltatherium 
fundaminis.  From  the  Wind  river  Eocene,f  Calamodon  cylindrifer, 
Esthonyx  acutidens,  Sciurus  ballovianus,  Pantolestes  secans,  Mi- 
crosyops  scottinnus.  Miacis  canavus,  M.  hrevirostris,  Didymictis 
dawkinsianus,  Tctops  didelphoides,  Batkyopsis  Jissidens,  Lamhdo- 
theriiim  brownianum,  Hyracotherium  venticohim,  and  Phenacodns 
trilohatus ;  from  the  Miocene  of  the  John  Day  river  in  Oregon, 
Nimravus  gomphodus,  JV.  confertus,  Coloreodon  ryderanus,  Paloio- 
choerus  platyops,  Protolabis  prehensilis,  and  U amy s  lockingtonianus ; 
and  from  the  Am^'zon  shales  in  the  South  Park  of  Colorada,  of  Upper 
Eocene  or  Lower  Miocene  age,  Charadrius  sheppardanus. 

We  have  passed,  in  historical  review,  the  Tertiary  as  it  has  been 
discovered,  and  is  now  known  on  the  eastern,  southern,  and  western 
parts  of  the  continent  of  North  America,  leaving  for  further  considera- 
tion, only  the  drift  or  fresh-water  Pliocene  and  Post-pliocene  of  the 
central  part.  The  reason  for  separating  the  rocks  in  this  manner 
may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  there  is  no  connection  between 
the  marine  drift  of  the  New  England  States  and  northeastern 
shore  of  the  continent,  and  the  fresh-water  drift  or  lake.drift  of  the 
central  part,  and  as  to  the  western  part  or  Rocky  mountain  region,  it 
has  never  been  subjected  to  any  general  diift  action,  though  here  and 
there  the  waters  from  the  local  lakes  have  left  their  drift  in  and  about 
the  streams  that  drained  them. 

It  may  be  important  here  to  remark,  that  in  this  historical  review, 
geologically  speaking,  we  have  not  found  an}-  Glacial  Period  or  Glacial 
Epoch,  nor  palseontologicrll^  .^peaking,  have  we  found  any  evidence 
whatever  of  such  a  period,  nor  have  we  found  any  phenomenon  requiring 
the  intervention  of  such  a  period  to  explain  it;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
all  the  phenomena  are  to  be  accounted  for,  without  change  of  climate,  and 
without  theviolation  of  any  of  the  laws  of  nature,  which  are  now  in 
operation,  and  form  the  basis,  from  which  the  geologist  judges  of  the 
pasl.  And  when  we  come  to  a  review  of  the  drift  of  the  central  part 
of  the  continent,  it  will  appear  equally  as  clear  that  no  part  of  it  was 
the  result  of  glaciers,  and  that  so  far  as  North  America  is  concerned, 
the  so  called  Glacial  Period  never  ]iad  an  existence. 


*  Am.  Nat.,  vol.«xv. 

t  Bull   U.  S.  Geo.  Sur.,  vol.  vi. 


1}    I 


Mesozoic  and  Cmnozoic  Geology  and  Paloeontology. 


277 


Before  we  proceed,  however,  with  the  fresh  water  or  lake  drift 
of  the  central  region,  it  may  be  proper  to  recapitulate  some  of  the  facts, 
which  we  have  already  considered,  and  to  call  further  attention  to  the 
total  absence  of  evidence  to  support  the  theory  of  a  Glacial  Period. 

The  marine  Eocene,  commencing  in  New  Jersey,  with  a  thickness  of 
onl}'^  37  feet,  and  covering  but  a  narrow  surface  area,  crosses  the  State 
of  Maryland  at  Fort  Washington;  Virginia,  by  the  way  of  Fredericks- 
burg, Richmond  and  Petersburg  ;  North  Carolina,  by  way  of  Newbern 
and  Wilmmgton;  South  Carolina,  by  way  of  Charleston  and  Shell 
Bluff,  on  the  Savannah  river;  Georgia,  by  wa}'  of  Milledgeville;  Ala- 
bama, b^'  way  of  Claiborne;  and  Mississippi,  by  way  of  Jackson  and 
Vicksburg.  In  South  Carolina,  it  covers  a  large  area,  and  attains  a 
thickness  of  1,000  or  1,100  feet.  In  its  surface  expansion,  it  is  ex- 
posed in  Florida,  and  reaches  up  into  Tennessee,  where  it  is  called  the 
Porter's  Creek  Group  and  Orange  Sand,  and  attains  a  thickness  of  be- 
tween 800  and  900  feet.  In  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  it  is  subdivided 
into  the  Vicksburg  Group,  Red  Bluff  Group,  Jackson  Group,  L  aiborne 
Group,  Buhrstone  Group,  and  Flat  Woods  and  Lagrange  Lignitic 
Group,  and  covers  a  large  area,  and  attains  a  thickness  of  872  feet.  It 
crosses  Louisiana,  and  offers  numerous  exposures  in  Texas.  It  also 
appears  in  limited  exposures  in  CalifornL'i.  But  nowhere  is  it  con- 
formable with  the  underlying  rocks.  It  is  extremely  fossiliferous  in 
many  of  its  exposures,  and  the  general  fades  of  the  shells  has  a  strik- 
ing generic  resemblance  to  the  living  mollusca  of  the  same  latitude, 
though  none  of  the  species  are  supposed  to  have  survived. 

The  marine  Miocene,  beginning  at  Martha's  Vineyard,  though  it  ma^* 
exist  as  far  north  as  the  State  of  Maine,  crosses  Nuw  Jersey  through 
Cumberland  county,  and  forms  a  border  upon  the  east  and  south  of  the 
Eocene  exposures,  a  large  part  of  the  way  to  the  3Iississippi  river,  and 
west  across  the  States  of  Louisiana  and  Texas.     It  is  not  conformable 
with  the  Eocene,  and  in  some  parts  does  not,  therefore,  intervene  be- ' 
twi3en  it  and  later  deposits,  as  in  South  Carolina  for  instance  its  very 
existence  has  been  doubted.     But  on  the  western  coast,  and  especially 
in  California,  it  is  highl}"^  developed.     Between  Canada  de  las  Uvas  and 
Solidad  Pass  the  thickness  is  2,500  feet,  and  in  other  places  the  maxi- 
mum is  evidently  much  greater.     The   Coast  range    is  composed   in 
large  part  of  strata  of  this  age,  and  hence  its  elevation  has  been  since 
the  Miocene  period.     As  far  as  we  may  be  able  to  judge  of  the  climate 
and  temperature  of  this  period,  l)y  the  fossils  obtained  from  this  region, 
it  was  the  same  that  it  is  now;  and,  indeed,  we  might  go  far  anterior  to 


if    ? 


I 


*  I 


ii   -i 


278 


Tertiary. 


this  for  the  same  climate  except  so  far  as  the  proportioQ  of  the  land 
and  water  surface  may  have  acted  to  change  it.  It,  too,  is  highly  fos- 
siliferous  in  some  of  its  exposures,  and  the  shells,  generally,  belong  to 
living  genera  and  many  of  the  species  stilL  survive  in  the  waters  bor- 
dering the  adjacent  coast. 

The  marine  Pliocene  strata  are  found  in  Maryland,  superimposed 
upon  the  Miocene,  and  in  South  Carolina  upon  the  Eocene,  and,  gener- 
ally, forming  a  narrow  border  at  the  east  of  these  outcrops  on  the  At- 
lantic coast  and  a  wider  border  on  the  south  adjoining  the  Gulf  coast. 
Fossil  shells  of  species  now  living  on  the  adjacent  coast  abound  inter- 
mingled with  those  which  have  become  extinct.  The  number  of  living 
species  indicates,  so  far  as  one  may  be  capable  of  judging,  identically 
the  same  climate  on  the  eastern  coast  of  the  United  States  that  now  pre- 
vails, «»ibstantially  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  Piiocene  of  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  especially  of  the  California  strata  of  this  age  and  the  living 
and  extinct  species.  Indeed,  there  is  no  paloeontologlcal  evidence  that 
the  Pliocene  climate  was  different  from  the  present,  on  this  continent, 
nor  could  we  reasonably  suppose  it  to  have  been  different,  because  the 
outlines  of  the  continent  were  nearly  the  same  as  they  are  now. 
The  Pliocene  so  graduates  into  the  Post-pliocene  at  many  places  that 
the  separation  of  the  two  is  very  difficult,  and  in  others  it  is  wholly 
impracticable,  and,  in  such  cases,  an  arbitrary  approximating  line  for 
acparation  is  assumed. 

The  marine  Post-pliocene  of  the  eastern  coast,  south  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  bordering  the  Atlantic  and  the  Gulf,  and  also  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  is  usually  found  conformable  with  the  Pliocene  below, 
and  alwaj's  graduating  into  the  present  or  modern  times  without  a 
break  otratigraphically  or  palaeontologically.  In  South  Carolina  it 
forms  a  belt  along  the  coast  8  or  9  miles  svide,  and  the  fossils  nearly 
all  belong  to  living  species  now  inhabiting  the  coast.  There  are,  in 
layers  of  blue  mud,  and  also  in  the  sands  which  succeed  them  of  this 
age,  the  b(mes  of  horses,  hogs,  dogs,  rabbits,  beavers,  tapirs,  and  other 
mammals  that  flourished,  as  far  as  we  can  judge,  throughout  the 
period.  Here  rests  the  evidence  that  the  climate  of  South  Carolina, 
during  the  Post- pliocene,  was  substantially  the  same  that  it  is  at 
present,  and  it  seems  to  be  conclusive,  in  the  absence  of  any  geologi- 
cal evidence  to  the  contrary.  The  stratigraphical  indications  of  the 
Post-pliocene  of  Texas  and  California,  and  the  palseontological  evi- 
dences, without  a  single  exception,  are  that  there  has  been  no  change 
in  the  climate  of  these  States  since  the  Pliocene  nge.     That  man  was 


Mesozoic  and  Ccsnozoic  Geology  and  Palaeontology.  279 


jologi- 


an  inhabitaut  of  this  continent  during  part  or  all  of  the  Post-pliocene 
period,  no  reasonable  man  will  doubt,  for  his  bones  and  his  stone  imple- 
ments have  frequently  been  found  in  the  Ashle}'  beds  of  South  Carolina, 
with  the  remains  of  the  extinct  Mastod*  n  and  Mammoth,  and  living 
mamm^As  that  are  well  known  to  have  been  contemporaneous.  This  mix- 
ture of  the  bones  and  implements  of  man,  with  the  remains  of  living  and 
extinct  n^ammals,  is  also  well  known  from  the  labors  of  Prof.  Whitney, 
in  California. 

Sometime  during  the  Pliocene  or  Post-pliocene  era,  and,  most  like- 
ly, commencing  during  the  first  and  continuing  into  the  second,  a 
portion  of  the  northeastern  coast,  about  Hudson's  Bay,  and  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence,  and  that  arm  of  land  south  of  the  Gulf,  and  east  of 
Lake  Champlain  and  the  Hudson  river,  known  as  New  Brunswick  and 
the  New  England  States,  was  submerged  or  overflowed  by  ocean 
currents,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  mountain  elevations.  The  de- 
pression in  the  Hudson  Bay  region  has  been  fully  set  forth  in  the  fore- 
going pages.  It  appears  that  the  rocks  are  striated  in  nearly  all 
directions,  and  that  upon  the  striated  surface  there  rest  marine  clays 
full  of  fossils  belonging  to  the  living  species  of  that  region,  and 
numerous  bowlders  from  the  contiguous  mountains  and  hills.  The 
scratches  are  evidently  the  work  of  floating  icebergs  and  shore  ice, 
during  the  period  of  submergence.  There  is  no  general  radiation  of 
detritus  from  mountain  ranges  to  evidence  the  existence  of  glaciers  in 
this  region,  nor  any  other  evidence  tending  to  show  that  the  climate 
was  materially  diffyrent  from  what  it  is  now.  The  fossiliferous  marine 
clays  and  sands  prove  the  submergence,  and  all  other  phenomena,  in- 
cluding the  scratches,  follow  as  the  necessary  results  of  submergence, 
in  that  latitude,  without  the  intervention  of  glaciers;  and,  furthermore, 
there  is  nothing  to  warrant  the  supposition  of  a  glacial  period  within 
this  area.  And  as  the  La'irentian  range  of  mountains  is  south  and 
east  of  this  submerged  area,  and  rises  to  the  height,  in  some  places,  of 
3,000  to  4,000  feet,  and  generally  has  an  elevation  of  1,500  feet  or 
more  above  the  level  of  the  ocean,  no  reasonable  theorist  will  claim 
that  a  glacier  would  ascend  this  range  of  mountains  for  the  mere  pur- 
pose of  going  south,  and  yet  how  could  we  have  a  continental  sheet  of 
ice  moving  south  unless  it  did.  Modern  ice  has  a  tendency  to  move 
down  an  incline,  rather  than  to  ascend  rugged  elevations  and  moun- 
tain chains,  and  an  ordinary  philosopher  would  suggest,  that  if  we 
must  have  a  Post-pliocene  glacier,  on  the  northern  side  of  the  Lauren- 
tian  mountains,  that  we  let  it  slip  down  hill  instead  of  up,  even  if  the 


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280 


Tertiary. 


direction  is  to  the  north.  Of  course  this  would  destroy  much  of  the 
beauty  and  symmetry  of  the  glacial  theory,  but  there  would  be  one 
thing  in  its  favor — it  would  not  be  reversing  the  laws  of  nature. 

South  of  the  Laurentide  mountains,  the  surface  of  the  rocks  beneath 
the  bowlder  clay  is  generally  striated  in  the  direction  of  the  valleys. 
This  pursuit  of  the  valleys  by  the  lines  of  striation  may  be  observed 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  up  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
down  the  Champlain  and  Hudson  river  valleys.  No  one  who  has  read 
the  description  of  these  markings  by  Prof.  Dawson  can  have  any  doubt 
that  the  bodies  which  produced  them  came  from  the  Atlantic  ocean  at 
the  eastern  end  of  the  Laurentian  range  of  mountains,  and  following 
up  the  St.  Lawrence  were  drifted  to  the  south  at  various  angles,  some 
floating  over  New  Brunswick,  and  others  over  Maine,  and  others  pass- 
ing up  so  far  as  to  drift  through  Lake  Champlain,  and  re-enter  the 
Atlantic  ocean  by  the  Hudson  river,  wliile  others  drifted  past  Montreal, 
and  were  driven  into  the  mouth  of  the  Ottawa  river  valley,  and  the 
ancient  valley  of  Ontario. 

In  New  Brunswick,  which  is  immediately  south  of  the  gulf,  the 
striae  are  related  to  the  contour  of  the  surface  of  the  land,  and  conform 
to  the  direction  of  the  river  valleys.  A  southeasterly  course  prevails 
in  the  western  part  of  Charlotte  county,  and  a  southwestern  course  in 
the  valleys  east  and  northeast  of  St.  John.  A  map  of  the  State  of 
Maine,  showing  the  course  of  the  rivers  will  show  the  course  of  the  strise. 
The  appearance  of  the  surface  geology  of  this  State  early  suggested  the 
fact  that  a  great  rush  of  waters  poured  over  it  from  a  northerly  source, 
and  transported,  by  its  power,  the  surface  debris  which  had  accumu- 
lated in  earlier  ages  by  subterial  forces,  and  large  masses  of  rock  from 
parent  ledges,  and  deposited  them  in  regions  more  or  less  distant  from 
the  several  sources,  and  as  they  passed  along  they  striated  and  grooved 
the  rocks  against  which  they  impinged,  or  over  which  they  rubbed  in 
the  traveled  course.  The  course  of  the  striae  is,  therefore,  in  nearly  all 
directions.  If  the  rivers  are  flowing  in  valleys,  bearing  to  the  south- 
east, the  striae  have  that  course,  or  if  south  or  southwest,  the  striae 
conform  to  the  valley.  Sometimes  striae  have  been  found  which  ulti- 
mately varied  at  right  angles  from  tlieir  original  direction.  The  Katah- 
din  mountains  formed  an  obstruction  around  which  the  striating 
agency  operated,  Jut  it  did  not  cross  the  summit.  The  striae  are  found 
upon  the  north  siae  of  the  mountains,  and  not  upon  the  south  side, 
unless  for  a  short  distance  where  the  slope  is  small.  The  striae  in  the 
States  of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire  are  in  all  directions,  and  it  is 


Mesozofc  and  Ccpnoz^.c  Geology  ar.d  Palcpomtology.  281 


with  difflculty  that  any  two  sets  are  found  oxactl}'  agreeing  in  their 
course,  though  as  in  Maine  they  conform  to  the  direction  of  the  valleys. 
The  greater  part  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  is  covered  with  the 
drift  sand,  gravel,  bowlders  or  clay,  and  the  grooves,  furrows  and 
scratches  upon  the  surface  of  the  rocks  in  place,  have  a  general  south- 
erly  dil-ection,  though  var^'ing  with  the  contour  of  the  vallej'S  to  a 
southeaster!}'  or  southwesterly  course.  At  the  Island  of  New  York, 
there  is  abundant  evidence  that  a  current  swept  over  it  from  the  north- 
west to  the  southeast.  The  furrows  are  most  strongly  marked  on  the 
northwestern  slopes  of  the  hills,  and  least  so  on  the  southeastern.  In 
mauj'  instances  they  are  very  distinct  on  the  western  and  northwestern 
slopes,  extending  to  the  highest  points  of  the  rock,  but  no  traces  arc  to 
be  seen  on  the  eastern  and  southeastern  slopes,  although  both  slopes 
are  equallj'  exposed.  The  striae  are  most  numerous  in  the  middle  part 
of  the  island,  somewhat  less  in  the  wesiern,  and  least  in  the  eastern. 
It  appears  that  the  current  was  deflected  southward  by  somfe  force,  at 
an  angle  to  its  course  in  the  middle  part  of  the  island.  Throughout 
all  this  region  south  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  St.  Lawrence 
valley,  we  have  in  the  course  of  the  strite,  and  the  distribution  of  clay, 
sand,  gravel,  and  bowlders,  the  evidence  of  an  overflow  of  the  whole 
country,  except  the  higher  hills  and  mountains,  and  the  evid3nce  that 
this  overflow  was  bj'  subsidence  of  the  coast,  and  that  the  Arctic  cur- 
rent, instead  of  leaving  the  coast  on  approaching  the  mouth  of  the 
Gulf,  as  it  does  now,  flowed  into  the  Gulf  and  across  the  depressed 
New  England  area,  transporting  its  fields  of  ice,  which  grounded  upon 
the  northern  slopes  of  hills  and  mountains,  and  rubbed  the  rocks  in 
the  valleys  and  plains  wherever  the  surface  soil  and  subaerial  accumu- 
lations were  swept  off  by  the  grinding  weight  of  a  mass  driven  by  a 
current  through  water  too  shallow  to  float  it.  However,  the  evidence 
of  submergence  does  not  rest  alone  upon  these  appearances,  but  stands 
upon  the  incontestible  ground  of  palaeontology. 

Throughout  nearly  all  this  region  the  striated  rocks  are  succeeded 
by  fossiliferous,  bowlder-bearing,  marine  clays  and  sands.  In  the 
Gaspe  peninsula  ocean  terraces  and  stratified  clay  containing  marine 
testacea  occur  at  the  height  of  600  feet  above  the  sea.  In  the  St. 
Lawrence  valley,  the  valley  of  the  Ottawa,  Champlain  region  of 
Vermont,  and  over  the  triangular  area  of  9,000  square  miles  extending 
from  Ottawa  to  Lake  Champlain,  the  marine  fossils  occur  in  the 
bowlder  clay  at  all  elevations  as  high  as  500  feet  or  more  above  the 
level  of  the  ocean.     The  fossiliferous  marine  clays  and  sands  form  a 


fl 

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282 


Tertiary. 


coating  for  a  large  part  of  the  face  of  New  Brunswick,  and  sea  beaclies, 
sea  bottoms,  and  fossiliferous  clays  form  almost  a  continuous  belt  on 
the  coast  of  Maine,  150  feet  above  the  ocean,  and  extending  up  the 
rivers  to  the  same  height.  These  facts  prove  the  submergence  of  the 
country,  beyond  a  doubt,  to  a  depth  much  greater  than  000  feet  below 
the  present  level  of  the  ocean ;  because  the  marine  shells  must  have 
some  depth  of  water  as  well  as  the  clay,  in  which  to  encase  them,  in 
order  to  produce  fossilization.  Nor  would  we  expect,  on  account  of 
the  ocean  currents  that  swept  over  the  region  in  question,  to  find  ma- 
rine remains,  except  in  very  deep  water,  where  the  shells  or  bones 
might  receive  a  covering  of  drift  materials  sufficient  to  preserve  them 
from  the  disintegrating  and  denuding  agencies  which  have  prevailed, 
during  the  long  train  of  centuries  that  have  elapsed  since  the  deposit. 

The  nodules  at  Green's  creek  are  in  the  lower  part  of  the  Leda  cla^', 
which  contains  bowlders,  and  is  succeeded  by  very  large  bowlders, 
while  no  bowlder  clay  underlies  it.  The  plants  contained  in  these  no- 
dules are  characterized  as  a  selection  from  the  present  Canadian  flora 
of  some  of  the  more  hardy  species,  having  the  most  northern  range,  and 
the  animals  such  as  may  now  be  found  in  the  Arctic  current  and  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence.  It  appears,  that  the  Arctic  current,  that  entered  by 
the  way  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  backed  its  waters  up  the  Ottawa 
valley,  and  that  the  plants  from  the  heights  of  the  Laurentian  range  of 
mountains,  on  the  border  of  the  valley,  found  their  way  into  an  eddy, 
where  the  blue  clay  was  precipitated,  and  the  Mallotus  villosus,  mollus- 
can  shells  and  hardy  vegetation  were  so  beautifully  coffined  in  en- 
during nodules  of  stone.  Dr.  Dawson  collected  and  identified  from  the 
marine  deposits  ten  species  of  plants,  and  195  species  of  radiates,  mol- 
luscs, articulates,  and  vertebrates,  and  the  whole  of  these,  with  three  or 
four  exceptions,  he  affirmed  to  be  living  northern  or  Arctic  species,  be- 
longing, in  the  case  of  the  marine  species,  to  moderate  depths,  or  vary- 
ing from  the  littoral  zone  to  200  fathoms.  The  assemblage  is  identical 
with  that  of  the  northern  part  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and  Labra- 
dor coasi,,  at  present,  and  there  is  nothing  in  it  to  indicate  any 
change  of  climate,  beyond  that  which  would  necessarily  follow,  by 
changing  the  Arctic  current,  so  as  to  throw  it  into  the  gulf  and  across 
the  New  England  States. 

There  is  nothing  in  all  this  area  that  indicates  the  existence  of  even 
a  local  glacier  with  any  degree  of  certainty,  though  it  may  not  be 
considered  impossible  that  a  small  glacier  should  have  existed  upon 
the  top  of  some  of  the  highest  mountain  peaks  of  New  England,  when 


*r 


m 


Mesozoic  and  Cdnozoic  Geology  and  Pahrontoloijy.  1%'S 

the  Arctic  current  was  flowing  across  the  lower  land.  There  is  noth- 
ing to  indicate  a  glacial  period,  but,  on  the  contrary,  every  known 
geological  and  palreoutological  fact  tells  us  that  it  never  existed.  And 
in  the  face  of  all  these  evidences  furnished  by  scientiHc  investigation, 
without  the  intervention  of  any  extraordinary  or  unusual  exercise  of 
the  powers  of  nature,  except  the  depression  and  elevation  of  a  coast 
line,  which  is  proven  by  the  deposit  of  the  shells  and  bones  of  marine 
animals,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  any  one  can  conceive  of  a  con- 
tinental siieet  of  ice  rising  up  from  Hudson's  bay,  crossing  over  tlie 
Laurentian  mountains,  going  down  to  the  depths  of  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence,  and  then  ascending  the  mountains  of  Elaine,  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  Vermont,  for  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  taking  a  trip 
south;  and  if  the  irriuginatiou  extends  that  far,  it  is  still  more  incom- 
prehensible why  any  one  should  believe  it. 

The  submergence  and  elevation  of  this  margin  may  have  included 
the  whole  of  the  Pliocene,  and  part  of  the  Post-pliocend  periods,  for  the 
vegetable  remains,  in  the  peat  beds  of  Brandon,  Vermont,  and  in  Nova 
Scotia,  and  other  places  which  were  covered  l)y  the  drift,  and  evi- 
dently mark  the  age  next  preceding  it,  have  been  doubtfull}-  identi- 
fied with  both  the  Eocene  and  Miocene,  and  other  palaeoutologicai 
evidence  is  wanting,  except  so  far  as  furnished  by  the  Post-pliocene, 
and  probably  Pliocene  fossils  enclosed  within  the  drift  itself. 

The  submergence  and  elevation  of  this  coast,  preceded  the  lake  drift 
of  the  central  part  of  the  continent,  or  at  least  could  not  have  been 
contemporaneous  with  it,  as  will  be  shown  in  the  sequel.  Lake  Ontario 
is  an  old  river  channel  with  the  adjacent  low  lauds  covered  with 
water.  It  is  about  245  feet  above  the  ocean.  It  will  be  readily  seen 
that  with  the  coast  submerged  this  lake  would  fall  at  the  east  end  245 
feet,  which  would  bring  it  within  less  than  one  third  of  its  present 
dimensions,  and  leave  the  maximum  depth  of  the  channel  less  than 
500  feet.  And  with  the  elevation  of  the  coast;  as  there  is  no  canon  to 
the  sea,  the  elevation  of  the  lake  w^ould  follow  to  its  present  level.  The 
consideration  of  this  subject,  however,  belongs  to  succeeding  pages. 
and  we  will  now  pass  to  a  brief  summary  of  the  Tertiary  of  the  Rocky 
mountain  region  or  western  part  of  the  continent. 

The  gradual  elevation  of  the  western  ranges  of  mountains  through 
the  later  Cretaceous  and  all  of  the  Tertiary  time,  and  the  formation 
of  bays  and  armu  of  the  sea  and  lakes,  which  have  drained  themselves 
more  or  less  completely,  and  yet  in  ever  continuing  succession, 
have  made  it  possible  for  the  geologist  to  link  the  Tertiary  with  the 


i 

f" 

I 

•1 

1 

If     ! 

i 

T 

I 


i. ; 


!    !■ 


ii 


1  i 


v. 


284 


Tertiary. 


Cretaceous,  and  to  bind  the  Eocene,  the  Mio(!eno  and  Pliocene  with 
the  present  aw  one  connected  age.  The  lower  Kocone  lai^e  deposits  are 
found  superimposed  conformably  upon  the  brackish  deposits  of  the 
Fort  Union  Group.  Tiie  Eocene  is  divided  in  ascending  order,  into 
the  Wasatch,  Green  river  and  Bridger  Groups,  though  these  are  found 
conformable  with  each  other  in  some  places  and  mark  a  continuing  age. 
The  Wasatch  is  again  divide!  by  having  the  lower  marls  called  the 
Puerco  Group,  and  the  Green  River  Group  is  divided,  for  convenience, 
in  some  places,  into  an  upper  and  lower  Green  River  Group.  It  would 
seem  that  all  other  names  proposed  for  the  fresh-water  Eocene  deposits 
are  synonyms,  though  the  equivalency  of  strata  has  not,  probably,  in 
all  cases,  been  determined.  The  Miocene  is  known  in  the  lower  part 
as  the  Wind  River  Group,  and  higher  as  the  White  River  Group,  and 
sometimes  the  latter  name  is  used  to  the  exclusion  of  the  former.  In 
some  places  the  upper  Miocene  is  called  the  Truckee  Group.  The 
Brown's  Park  Group,  Sweetwatx^r  Group  and  Monument  Creek  Group 
are  3Iiocene,  but  their  exact  position  is  not  so  fully  determined  The 
two  latter  are  supposed  to  be  equivalent  to  part  of  the  White  River 
Group,  and  the  former  i.iay  be  so  too.  The  Pliocene  is  very  properly 
called  the  Loup  Fork  Gtoup.  It  has  also,  in  part,  received  the  name 
of  the  Salt  Lake  Group,  and  a  conglomerate  of  the  age  of  the  upper 
part  of  the  Pliocene  is  called  the  Wj'oming  Conglomerace.  The  dis- 
tribution of  these  Groups  and  questions  of  synonymy,  have  been  con- 
sidered at  some  length,  in  preceding  pages,  and  in  the  near  future 
the  nomenclature  will  no  doubt  be  more  definitely  established. 

The  northern  drift  does  not  occur  in  California,  nor  on  the  Pacific 
coast  as  far  north  as  British  Columbia  and  Alaska.  There  are  no  in- 
dications throughout  the  Rocky  mountain  region  of  any  general  ice 
action.  There  are  no  such  exhibitions  of  scratched  and  grooved  rocks 
succeeded  by  fossiliferous  marine  clays  and  sands  with  bowlders,  as 
occur  in  the  New  England  States  and  St.  Lawrence  region,  nor  of 
scratched  rocks  and  ancient  soils  succeeded  by  cla}',  sand  and  gravel 
with  bowlders,  as  occur  in  the  central  part  of  the  continent;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  the  whole  region  may  be  regarded  as  an  absolutely  driftless 
area,  except  as  to  local  drift  produced  upon  the  shores  of  the  Tertiary 
lakes,  and  more  or  less  distributed  by  the  rivers,  that  in  the  course  of 
time  cut  out  the  canons  which  drained  them.  On  the  borders  of  the  ancient 
lakes,  on  the  borders  of  the  ancient  lake-like  expansions  of  the  rivers, 
and  on  the  borders  of  the  ancient  rivers,  there  are  terraces  which  mark 
old  shore  lines  at  various  places  from  Mexico  to  Alaska,  and  especially 


Menozot'c  and  Camozoir  Geology  and  Pnln'ontologij. 


285 


throughout  Rritish  Columbia.  Tliese  terraces  show  only  the  ordinary 
subivrial  denudation  since  they  constituted  the  shore  lines  oC  lakes  and 
rivers;  but  tliey  are  standing  monuments  of  evidence  to  disprove  the  ex- 
istence of  a  glacial  period  on  this  continent,  or  the  existenceof  a  conti- 
nental ioe  sheet;  for  no  one  can  conceive  of  the  movement  of  such  a  heavy 
body  of  ice  across  a  valley,  without  disturbing  the  graveled  terraces  that 
border  it,  upon  both  sides,  at  different  elevations.  The  natural  towers 
that  stand  as  an  evidence  of  erosion  from  the  Wasatch  times  to  the 
present;  from  the  Green  River  Eocene  to  the  present;  from  theBridger 
Eoceno'to  the  present;  from  the  White  River  Miocene  to  the  present;  the 
columnar  masses,  irregular  pyramids,  sandstone  towers,  and  turreted 
outliers  of  the  Bad  Lands  of  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Montana  and  British 
Columbia;  tb^  monuments  on  Monument  creek;  the  Garden  of  the 
Gods;  the  buttes  in  all  the  mountain  chains;  the  transverse  ridges, 
lone  mountains  and  exalted  peaks;  and  the  whole  array  of  canons 
from  Texas  and  Mexico  to  Alaska,  all  alike,  tell  us,  in  language  un- 
mistakable, that  no  glacial  sheet  ever  moved  south  upon  the  western 
plains  or  mountain  ranges.  No  geologist  has  ever  found  a  rock  or 
bowlder  that  had  crossed  the  dividing  ridge  from  one  valley  to  another 
in  all  this  western  region  of  the  United  States  and  British  America. 
No  one  has  ever  found  any  evidence  of  any  general  drift  action,  or 
general  ice  action  in  any  part  of  the  territory.  Then,  why  talk  about 
a  continental  ice  sheet  or  glacial  period  ? 

Many  of  the  phenomena  attributed  b}'  glacialists  to  a  continental 
sheet  of  ice  belong  to  the  ordinary  eroding  atmospheric  causes,  others 
to  drifting  sand,  others  to  land  slides,  others  to  land  slips  or  ava- 
lanches, which  have  been  precipitated  into  the  bed  of  the  river,  pro- 
ducing a  dam  that  backed  the  water  up  until  a  lake  was  formed,  and 
the  quantity  of  water  became  so  great  as  to  force  its  way  through  the 
barrier,  and  cast  the  increased  volume  with  terrific  force  upon  the 
valley  below.  Lyell  notices  the  devastating  effects  of  one  of  these  land 
slips  from  the  White  mountains  of  New  Hampshire,  into  the  Saco 
river,  in  1826,  and  points  out  its  insignificance,  when  compared  with 
those  occasioned  by  earthquakes,  when  the  boundary  hills,  for  miles 
in  length,  are  thrown  down  into  the  hollow  of  a  valle3\  The  effects  of 
even  extraordinary  floods,  in  river  valleys,  seem  to  be  overlooked  by 
some  glacialists;  and,  in  this  connection,  it  will  not  be  without  interest 
to  call  attention  to  one  that  happened  in  the  Connecticut. 

In  the  winter  of  1780,*  well  known  for  being  one  of  the  severest  ever 


i:''.  .I', 


*  Hayden's  Geological  Essays. 


■    ;| 


!, 


'!• 


'U 


I 


li 


;')l 


286 


Tertiary. 


experienced  in  this  country,  the  ice  in  the  Connecticut  river  was  in- 
creased to  a  great  thickness  and  solidity.  In  many  instances,  the 
water  in  the  river  was  literally  frozen  to  the  bottom.  In  the  month  of 
January,  as  usual,  there  came  a  great  and  sudden  thaw,  accompanied 
with  incessant  torrents  of  rain,  which  appeared  to  spread  over  an  im- 
mense extent  of  country.  The  consequences  were  such  as  might  be  ex- 
pected; the  snow  which  was  over  live  feet  deep,  was  quickly  melted;  every 
stream  as  suddenly  became  a  river;  and  every  river  threatened  to  be 
come  an  ocean.  The  Connecticut  river  was  very  soon  raised  almost  to 
a  level  with  its  banks,  and  the  ice,  which  was  two  and  ahalf  feet  thick 
was  borne  away  by  the  current  in  the  most  terrillc  majesty;  for  where- 
ever  it  was  impeded  in  its  progress,  by  an  island,  or  the  narrowing  of 
the  shores  of  the  river,  it  was  broken  up,  and  immense  masses  raised 
into  the  air,  until  their  elevated  portions,  preponderating  over  their 
floating  foundations,  were  left  to  fall  on  the  surrounding  ice  with  a  re- 
port, equal  in  some  instances  to  that  of  small  pieces  of  ordnance. 
This  scene  of  awful  grandeur  was  extended  for  miles  to  the  north  and 
south,  and  whilt;  thousands  were  contemplating  the  frightful  spectacle, 
the  ice,  being  very  solid,  and  hurried  on  by  a  powerful  current  became 
obstructed  at  the  mouth  of  the  straits  twenty-flve  miles  b'»low,  near 
Middletown,  and  the  whole  force  of  the  river  for  a  short  time  was  im- 
peded: the  water  set  back  and  upward,  and  enormous  masses  of  ice 
were  hurried  over  the  banks  of  the  river,  into  the  creeks  and  larger 
streams  to  a  considerable  distance  from  the  river,  into  the  meadows 
and  low  grounds:  When  on  a  sudden,  from  the  pressure  above,  the  ob- 
struction at  the  straits  gave  way,  and  this  threatening  appearance  al- 
most in  a  minute  vanished;  the  water  fell  to  its  natural  state,  and  left 
huge  masses  of  transparent  ice  in  the  meadows  and  intervals,  to  be  re- 
removed  only  by  the  powerful  influence  of  a  summer's  sun.  When  this 
was  accomplished,  in  the  following  season,  large  pieces  of  rocks  and 
heaps  of  rolled  pebbles  were  left  exposed  to  view  on  an  alluvial  surface, 
on  which  before  a  stone  could  not  be  found  for  its  weight  in  gold. 
These  rocks  and  stones,  from  their  characters,  were  known  to  be  the 
same  as  those  which  composed  the  bed  of  the  river  many 
above. 


leagues 


Meaoxoic  (mil  Canozoic  Oeoloffi/  and  Pdlomntoloyi/. 


287 


We  now  come  to  tlio  consideration  of  the  saml,  gravel  and  bowlders 
cunHtitdtiug  the  drift  of  tUc  central  part  cf  the  continent;  the  ncratciies 
and  furrows  upon  the  rocks;  the  ancient  soil  beneath  the  drift  ;  and 
the  animal  and  vegetable  remains  which  immediatel}'  preceded  the 
drift,  and  also  such  as  are  found  within  it. 

It  is  idle  to  talk  of  continental  elevations  or  depressions,  for  tl<o 
whole  science  of  geology  and  palieoutology  teaches  us  of  the  gradual 
growth  or  formation  of  continents.  The  appearance  of  islands  above 
water,  until  an  archipelago  is  formed,  followed  by  the  slow  filling  up  of 
the  shallow  places  and  the  intermittent  local  elevation  of  mountain 
chains,  through  vast  geological  ages,  until  the  islands  arc  thoroughly 
united  into  one  vast  borly  or  continent,  is  the  history  of  all  continental 
elevations,  and  science  teaches  us  of  none  other,  and  if  continents  have 
been  depressed  they  must  now  be  beneath  the  ocean,  for  we  know 
nothing  of  such  phenomena. 

We  have  already  seen  the  vast  deposits  of  the  Triassic  and  Jurassic 
periods,  followed  by  the  marine  and  brackish  water  deposits  of  the 
Cretaceous  age  that  so  well  nigh  formed  the  outlines  of  this  continent. 
The  elevation  of  the  mountain  chains  that  caused  the  formation  of 
vast  internal  lakes,  which  have  slowly  drained  themselves  through  all 
Tertiary  time,  and  the  slight  elevation  of  some  parts  of  the  coast  duriitg 
the  same  period  has  given  us  the  present  form  of  our  continent. 

As  soon  as  an  island  appeared  -  hove  the  ocean  the  denudation  of 
its  surface,  from  atmospheric  causes,  began.  The  rains  at  once  com- 
menced the  excavation  ot  valleys  and  ravines,  and  when  the  islands 
began  to  assume  a  continental  shape,  the  valleys  must  necessarily 
have  been  correspondingly  increased  in  size.  As  the  Appalachian 
range  dates  back,  in  part,  as  far  as  the  close  of  palaeozoic  time,  so 
the  Ohio  river  and  other  streams  from  this  mountain  chain  have  the 
same  age.  Another  drainage  sj'stem  existed  from  the  Laurentian 
mountains  by  a  way  that  has  been  interrupted  and  thrown  into  a 
series  of  lakes,  but  the  ancient  valley  has  been  traced  from  Lake 
Huron  through  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario.     To  the  west  and  north  of 


iiii 


41 


288 


Tertiary. 


::   ] 


k 


i'  . 


this  drainage  system,  vast  internal  lakes  were  formed  by  the  elevation 
of  the  western  mountain  chains,  which  o' erflowed  and  drained  them- 
selves across  the  central  part  of  the  c.atinent,  and  produced,  as  we 
will  sec,  in  the  sequel,  all  the  phenomena  of  the  drift. 

As  heretofore,  we  will  follow  the  historical  and  chronological  order 
of  discovery  as  far  as  practicable. 

In  1817,  Dr.  Daniel  Drake,*  of  Cincinnati,  wrote  an  essay  upon  the 
alluvial  and  drift  formations  of  Ohio  and  the  surrounding  countrj-. 
The  letter  was  not  published,  however,  until  1825.  He  supposed  that 
the  gravel  and  sand  which  spreads  itself  over  the  western  part  of  Ohio, 
and  is  not  found  over  eastern  Kentucky,  is  the  result  of  an  inundation, 
having  its  origin  nortii  of  the  lakes,  and  that  the  largo  bowlders  and 
blocks  of  stone,  distributed  over  the  country,  were  transported  by  large 
fields  of  ice  and  icebergs,  which  floated  from  the  arctic  regions  during 
this  inundation.  He  said,  the  ice  to  which  they  were  attached  could 
not  of  course  pass  a  certain  latitude  ;  and  from  the  great  increase  of 
these  masses  as  we  advance  toward  the  north,  it  would  seem  that 
many  of  the  icebergs  suffered  dissolution  long  before  they  arrived  at 
this  localit3\ 

In  1820,  Caleb  Atwaterf  stated  luat  an  arrow-head  was  found  in 
the  alluvium,  when  digging  a  well  at  Cincinnati,  90  feet  below  the  sur- 
face ;  that  a  human  skeleton  was  found  in  the  alluvium  at  Pickaway 
plains,  17.V  feet  below  the  surface,  that  could  not  have  been  interred 
by  human  hands  in  that  position  ;  and  he  iigured  and  described  a 
human  skull  of  a  very  low  grade,  wiiich  was  found  nine  feet  below  the 
surface,  in  such  a  position  as  to  suggest  its  contemporaneity  with  the 
drift  era. 

In  1825,  Sayers  Gazley];  found  fossil  wood  in  Hamilton  county, 
Ohio,  below  the  gravel,  and  intermixed  with  it  and  bluish  earth,  at 
depths  from  10  to  40  feet  below  tlie  surface,  and  apparently  where  the 
trees  had  originally- grown. 

In  1838,  Prof.  James  Hallg  observed  the  indications  of  diluvial 
action,  in  western  New  York,  in  the  accumulations  of  gravel,  sand, 
pebbles  and  bowlders  of  all  dimensions  strewn  over  the  surface.  In 
some  places  slight  scratches  were  observed  on  the  rocks,  while  in  others 
they  were  numerous  and  deep,  often  extending  for  several  feet,  and  in 


■'■■•  Trans.  Am.  Phil.  Soc,  vol.  ii. 
•jr  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts. 
t  Ibid. 
?  Geo.  Rep.  N.  Y. 


'i    : 


Mesozoic  (Did  Cninozoic  Geology  and  PaUvontoloyy. 


289 


one  case  a  continuous  furrow  was  found  100  feot  in  lengtli.  The 
general  direction  of  these  scratclies  is  N.N.E.  and  S.S.W.  tliough  tlic}' 
var}'  a  little.  One  of  tiic  remarkable  features  of  tlie  country  is  a 
''  Lake  ridge"  passing  through  the  four  lake  counties  nearly  parallel  to 
the  lake  shore,  and  from  four  to  eight  miles  distant  from  the  lake.  The 
width  of-the  ridge  at  the  base  is  from  four  to  eight  rods,  and  narrow- 
ing toward  the  top  to  only  two  or  three  rods  in  width.  In  manj' 
places  it  much  exceeds  this  width.  The  elevation  of  this  ridge  above 
lake  Ontario  is  from  160  to  200  feet,  though  it  varies  a  little  from  this 
at  some  places.  The  whole  of  the  ridge  is  superficial,  being  composed 
of  sand,  gravel  and  pebbles,  in  all  respects  similar  to  those  forming 
the  beaches  along  the  present  lake  shore.  South  of  the  ridge  there  arc 
numerous  parallel  ridges,  composed  of  sand  and  gravel,  I'ising  about 
25  to  35  feet  above  the  general  level,  and  having  uniformly  a  north  and 
south  direction,  but  never  crossing  the  lake  ridge.  The  opinion  ex- 
pressed in  relation  to  this  ridge  is  that  it  once  constituted  part  of  the 
shore  of  the  lake,  and  consoq  ently  that  the  water  in  the  lake  was  once 
160  or  200  feet  higher  than  at  present,  and  that  the  north  and  south 
ridges  resulted  from  the  overflow  o^  die  lake  and  the  pouring  out  of 
its  waters  in  a  southerly  direction. 

Prof.  J.  W.  Foster*  separated  the  surface  deposits  of  Central  Ohio 
into:  1.  Vegetable  mold;  2.  Loam,  or  a  mixture  of  sand  and  clay; 
3.  Sand  and  pebbles;  4.  Yellow  cla}';  5,  Dark  blue  cla^- effervescing 
with  acids.  The  whole  of  which  has  a  thickness  of  from  50  to  150  feet. 
And  also  over  the  surface  of  the  country  there  are  scattered  bowlders 
of  granite,  syenite,  quartz,  etc.  In  tlie  region  about  Columbus,  some 
of  these  erratic  blocks  contain  1,000  cubic  feet.  Not  even  a  primitive 
pebble  has  been  found  on  the  highlands  east  of  Zanesville,  showing 
that  the  valley  of  the  M  iskingum  formed  a  connection  of  the  currents 
of  water,  that  swept  over  tho  country,  with  the  Oliio  river.  He  de- 
scribed from  an  excavation  for  the  canal  at  Nashport,  Ohio,  Casio- 
roides  chioensis.  It  was  taken  from  a  layer  of  dark  carbonaceous  silt, 
below  a  yellowish  clay  bed  14  feet  in  thickness,  but  above  a  layer  of 
pebbles  of  primitive  rocks  and  the  blue  clay  at  the  bottom  of  the  canal. 

Prof.  John  Locke  found  the  surface  of  the  rocks  at  Light's  (piarry 
seven  miles  above  Dayton,  about  448  feet  above  tiie  Ohio  river  at  Cin- 
cinnati, planed,  scratched  and  grooved.  The  quarry  had  been 
stripped  of  soil,  more  or  less,  over  ten  acres.  The  natural  surface  of 
the  stone  is  very  rough,  and  in  some  places  this  roughness  was    un- 


•••"  Ohio  Geo.  Hep.  1838. 


11    ■< 


V 


'h 


n 


m 


HI 


290 


Tertiary. 


touched,  in  otliers  the  prominences  were  just  toiichcd  by  the  grinding 
opciation,  partially  worn  down,  or  entirely  oblitcrnted,  leaving  a  flat, 
but  unpolished  surface,  and  In  many  other  places  tiie  surface  is 
polished,  and  grooved.  The  grooves  are,  in  width,  from  lines  scarcelj' 
visible,  to  those  three  fourths  of  an  inch  wide,  and  fr  m  one  fortieth  to 
one  eighth  of  an  inch  deep,  and  traverse  tho  quarry  from  betweer  N, 
19°  to  N.  33°  west,  to  the  opposite  points,  in  lines  exactly  straight,  and 
in  fassicles  of  sometimes  10  in  number,  exactly  parallel,  cleanly  en- 
graved in  compact  limestone,  without  seam  or  fault  of  an}'  kind,  and  in 
a  surface  ground  down  to  a  perfect  plane.  The  grooves  appear  as  if 
they  had  been  formed  by  icebergs  floating  over  the  terrace,  which  is 
the  higliest  in  the  neighborhood,  and  dragging  gravel  and  bowlders 
frozen  into  its  lower  surface,  over  the  plane  of  the  stone. 

In  1842,  Lardner  Vanuxem*  found  the  drift  scratches  in  Central 
New  York  confined  to  no  particular  rock,  and  at  no  particular  elevation, 
but  not  uncommon,  and  corresponding,  in  direction,  with  che  course 
of  the  valley,  or  of  the  valle\'s  in  which  they  occur.  One  of  the 
best  localities  for  observing  the  phenomena  is  at  a  quarry  two  and  a 
half  miles  northeast  of  Amsterdam.  Tlie  surface  of  the  rock  is  cov- 
ered with  soil  and  earth,  which,  when  removed,  shows  a  water-worn  sur- 
face with  two  or  three  sets  of  scratches,  exhibiting  great  regularit}',  and 
having  a  common  direction  toward  the  east,  one  set  c  f  which  is  about 
eight  degrees  south.  The  scratches,  including  furrows,  are  generally 
frtMu  a  mere  line  to  one  fourth  of  an  inch  wide,  and  from  one  to  tvvo 
tenths  of  an  inch  and  more  in  depth.  Some  of  them  show  that  the 
moving  power  which  produced  them,  passed  over  the  surface  with  a 
vibratory  or  tremulous  motion. 

In  1843,  Prof,  ./ames  Hallf  said  that  the  northern  part  of  the  fourth 
district  of  Now  York,  and  the  low  slopes  and  deeper  valley's  of  the 
southern  part,  are  covered  to  a  greater  or  less  depth  by  superficial 
materials  of  more  northern  origin,  mingled  with  those  of  the  rock  on 
which  the  deposit  rests.  All  the  formations  have  suff'ered  greatly 
from  denudaticm,  and  the  abraded  fragments  of  each  constitute  a 
large  proportion  of  the  superficial  detritus  resting  on  its  southern 
neighbor.  The  size  of  the  fragments  always  bears  a  proportion  to  the 
distance  they  have  been  transported  from  tlie  parent  rock.  Often,  a 
huge  mass  of  a  northern  rock  rests  upon  the  margin  of  the  one  next 
south  of  it,  while  at  a  distance  of  10  or  20  miles  farther  south,  only  small 


*  «eo.  3d  Dist.,  N.  Y. 

f  Geo.  Sur.  4th  Dist,  N.  Y. 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geology  and  Palrrontology. 


291 


pebbles  of  the  same  occur.  In  some  places  the  coarser  and  finer 
materials  are  intermln<yle(l,  in  the  greatest  confusion,  and  heaped  up 
into  conical  hills  thickly  scattered  over  the  surface.  And  again  the 
same  materials  are  accumulated  in  long  hills  or  ridges  having  a  deter- 
minate  direction,  and  sloping  down  from  a  high  northern  elevation  to 
the  general  level  of  the  country  south. 

On  one  hand,  we  have  comparatively  an  evenl}'  distributed  deposit, 
as  if  made  by  the  retiring  waters  of  an  ocean ;  on  the  other,  the  long 
hills,  with  certain  directions,  show  a  determinate  course  and  more 
powerful  current  in  the  ocean,  while  the  irregular,  conical  and  dome- 
siiapod  hills,  with  deep,  bowl  shaped  cavities,  show  the  force  of  con- 
tending currents,  or  of  other  obstructions,  in  the  course  of  the  trans 
ported  materials. 

The  great  bulk  of  the  deposit,  whether  evenly  distributed  or  irregu- 
larly raisad  into  hills  and  ridges,  is  composed  of  the  rock  but  a  short 
distance  on  the  north,  or  perliaps  of  the  one  on  which  it  rests,  with  a 
constantly  decreasing  proportion  of  rocks  of  northern  origin.  The 
materials  of  the  primary  rocks  constitute  but  a  comi)aratively  small 
proportion  of  the  superficial  accumulations  of  western  New  York.  The 
local  origin  of  the  drift  is  shown  by  the  sections  everywhere  examined. 
A  section  on  Irondequoit  baj',  is  as  follows:  1.  Medina  sandstone, 
shaly  with  bands  of  green.  2.  Fragments  and  rolled  masses  of  the 
sandstone  below,  with  gravel  and  sand;  this  contains  a  few  pebbles 
of  the  slial}',  calcareous  sandstone  next  on  the  north.  I}.  Bed  of  fine 
sand.  4.  Stratum  of  sandstone  pebbles,  cemented  into  a  conglomer- 
ate by  oxide  of  iron  and  carbonate  of  lime.  5.  Stratum  of  pebbles 
and  sand.  6.  A  course  deposit  of  pebbles  of  the  Medina  sandstone 
below,  with  gravel  and  sand.  7.  The  soil  of  sandy  loam.  An- 
other section  70  miles  farther  west  on  the  bank  of  lake  Ontario, 
at  the  town  of  Wilson,  in  Niagara  county,  is  as  follows:  1.  Red 
clay  and  gravel  of  the  Medina  sandstone.  2.  Blue  clay  and  gravel. 
The  pebbles  are  principally  of  the  rocks  of  the  Hudson  River  Group. 
3.  Gravel,  clay  and  sand,  of  the  neighboring  rocks,  folding  over 
and  passing  beneath  No.  2.  4.  The  soil  of  clayey  loam  with  cla}' 
below.  The  sections  of  the  drift  almost  univerr^all}'  correspond  with 
these,  and  their  explanation,  viz:  a  bed  of  broken  fragments,  with 
worn  pebbles  resting  upon  the  rock  from  which  the}-  are  derived.  The 
granite  and  other  materials  of  a  far  northern  origin  rarely  constituting 
a  part.  And  where  they  do  form  a  part,  the  deposit  may  have  under- 
gone some  subsequent  change. 


m 


292 


Tertiary. 


m 


f-Pf-S 


m 


m 


Grooves  or  strioe  are  found  upon  the  surface  of  all  the  neks  beneath 
the  drift  in  the  fourth  district,  which  are  of  sufficient  hardness  to  re- 
ceive and  retain  such  impressions.  Frono  tlie  Medina  sandstone,  at  the 
level  of  lake  Ontario,  to  the  summit  of  the  Carboniferous  conglomer- 
ate, in  the  southern  ))art  of  the  State,  some  of  the  strata  in  every  group 
bear  upon  their  surface  these  markings  of  former  abrasion,  and 
evidence  of  moving  force.  Tlie  direction  of  these  stria?  vary  but  few 
degrees  from  N.  35°  E.  and  S.  35°  \V.  in  their  general  course.  Short 
and  shallow  stria*  are  abundant,  which  var}'  ten  and  fifteen  degrees 
from  this  direction,  but  these  have  no  continuous  course,  and  apparent- 
ly fall  into  the  main  direction  after  a  few  feet.  These  markings  range 
from  the  slightest  possible  scratch,  to  grooves  of  half  an  inch  in  width 
and  one  fourth  of  an  inch  in  depth.  The  grooves  seem  to  have  been 
made  by  a  hard  substance,  moved  with  great  force  and  under  great 
pressure,  for  fragments  are  found  broken  out  as  the  grooves  approach  a 
fissure  in  the  strata,  as  if  crushed  out  by  some  heavy  bod^',  and  some- 
times the  grooves  are  observed  following,  somewhat  obliquely,  the 
fractured  slope.  The  outcropping  edges  of  strata,  previously  polished 
and  grooved,  are  often  found  overturned,  upon  the  rock,  in  place. 

At  Rochester,  the  surface  of  tlie  limestone  is  finely  striated,  and  al- 
most perfectly  polished  by  the  abrading  force.  The  material  here  rest- 
ing upon  the  rock  is  fine  sandy  loam;  in  another  locality  a  mile  farther 
south,  it  is  covered  by  coarse  limestone  gravul  and  sandstone  pebbles, 
with  bowlders  of  granite.  The  striai  here  are  N.N.E.  and  S.S.W.  At 
Black  Rock,  the  surface  of  the  Corniferous  limestone  shows  that  the 
nodules  of  hornstone  interrupted  the  progress  of  the  stria?  and  stand 
above  the  surrounding  polished  surface.  The  direction  here  is  N.  15° 
E.  and  S.  35°  W.  At  the  cliff  of  Lake  Erie  in  Portland,  Chautauqua 
county,  the  rocky  strata  below  have  been  uplifted,  broken  and  con- 
torted; the  fragments  intermingled  with  clay  and  gravel,  and  the  same 
pressed  beneath  the  strata,  which  otherwise  appear  to  be  in  place. 

The  terrace  at  Lewiston  is  formed  by  the  upper  i)art  of  the  Medina 
sandstone,  the  Clinton  Group  and  the  Niagara  shale,  capped  b\^  about 
twent}'  feet  of  Niagara  limestone.  The  top  of  this  terrace  is  350  feet 
above  Lake  Ontario,  and  more  than  200  feet  above  the  plain  about 
Lewiston.  The  Niagara  shale  is  carried  away  so  as  to  leave  the  lime- 
stone of  the  Clinton  Group  forming  a  projecting  shelf  about  100  feet 
below  the  top  of  the  terrace.  The  surface  of  this  projecting  shelf  is 
deeply  grooved  and  striated,  the  grooves  having  a  general  southern 
tendency,  but  moi'i  irregular  than  where  the}'  are  seen  upon  the  lime- 


Mesozoic  and  CcBnozoic  Oeology  and  Faloiont  Aogy. 


293 


stone  on  tho  top  of  the  terrace;  and  at  this  place,  the  surfaces  200  feet 
lower,  and  100  feet  higher,  al'e  scored  in  like  manner.  Wliat  agency 
could  produce  this  effect  V  Here  is  an  abrupt  elevation  of  100  feet 
above  the  striated  surface;  and  it  seems  hardly  possible  that  an  island 
of  ice,  loaded  with  granite  bowlders,  could  have  stranded  upon  this  pro- 
jecting shelf,  and  produced  the  scoring,  and  that,  at  the  same  time, 
others  above  and  below  could  be  made  in  like  manner. 

The  fourth  district,  in  its  greatest  elevation  of  about  2,000  feet  above 
tide  water,  descends  to  the  level  of  Lake  Ontario,  240  feet  above  tide, 
for  the  most  part,  in  a  series  of  steps  or  terraces  over  the  successive 
formations;  the  surfaces  of  these,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  are 
grooved  and  striated,  and  in  the  limestones  often  beautifully  polished. 
There  is  no  high  land  on  the  north,  from  which  glaciers  could  origin- 
ate to  cover  this  entire  surface.  The  relative  levels,  as  well  as  the 
directions  of  the  water  courses,  must  also  have  been  different,  to  liave 
allowed  of  such  effects  from  glaciers;  for,  under  present  circumstances, 
we  should  hardly  expect  to  find  a  glacier  advancing  from  the  valley  of 
Lake  Ontario,  toward  the  southern  margin  of  the  State,  and  ascending 
nearly  2,000  feet  in  100  miles.  Even  admitting  the  glacial  theory  to 
be  true,  it  is  probable  that  the  glaciers  would  originate  among  the 
mountains  of  Canada,  or  farther  north  among  the  primary  rocks;  and 
in  this  event,  we  might  expect  to  meet,  intermingled  with  the  earliest 
drift,  a  considerable  proportion  of  granite  and  other  pebbles  and 
bowlders  of  the  older  rocks,  which  is  not  the  case. 

There  is  another  fact  worth}'  of  notice.  The  vertical  faces  of  joints, 
when  much  separated  and  nearly  coinciding  with  the  direction  of  these 
grooves,  are  polished  in  the  same  manner  as  the  surfaces.  The  chinks 
and  fissures,  in  the  harder  rocks  along  the  sea  shore,  are  polished,  in 
like  manner,  by  the  washing  in  of  sand  and  pebbles  by  the  advancing 
and  retiring  waves. 

The  first  plateau  above  Lake  Ontario  is  often  plentifully  covered 
with  bowlders.  These  usually  lie  upon  the  surfa(;e,  and  always  upon 
the  top  of  the  drift.  They  are  not  evenly  distributed,  but  often  appear 
in  immense  numbers,  scattered  over  several  acres;  while  beyond  this, 
for  a  great  distance,  few  are  to  be  found.  There  appears  to  be  no  law 
regulating  their  distribution,  though  they  are  more  abundant  in  the 
eastern  than  in  the  western  part  of  the  district.  The  bowlders  are 
often  in  immense  numbers  on  the  low  ground  just  north  of  the  Ridge 
road  from  Wayne  count}'  to  the  Niagara  river,  and  appear  as  if  the}- 
had  been  brought  there  while  the  water  was  limited  by  tliis   barrier, 


,'!'i)  ri.i 


294 


Tertiary. 


w 


and  spread  over  the  bottom  in  shallow  water  near  the  shore.  In  higher 
situations,  and  just  bencatli  the  groat  limestone  terrace  they  again  ap- 
pear in  abundance,  as  if  this  elevation  prevented  their  farther  advance 
to  the  south.  The  bowlders  are  most  abundant  in  Wayne  and  the 
eastern  part  of  IMonroe  county;  going  westward  from  the  Genesee 
they  are  less  so,  becoming  extremely  raie  in  Erie  and  Niagara  counties. 
As  we  ascend  tiie  second  limestone  terrace  formed  b}'  the  Helderberg 
range  of  limestones  extending  westward,  bowlders  become  perceptibly 
less  numerous;  they  are  irregularly  scattered,  and  at  few  points  pre- 
sent the  thi(!kly  covered  fields  which  are  observed  farther  north.  Very 
few  ascend  the  slope  formed  by  the  passage  of  the  Hamilton  Group  to 
the  rocks  above;  and  in  all  tlie  previous  cases,  the}'  seem  to  have  been 
brought  on,  at  intervals,  in  great  numbers,  and  their  limits  bounded  by 
the  different  elevations  of  the  surface.  As  we  pass  southward  over  the 
higlier  groups,  bowlders  become  exceedingl\'  rare;  and  finally  toward 
the  southern  margin  of  the  State  they  are  rarely  seen. 

Some  of  them  bear  evidence  of  much  wearing,  being  actually  striated 
upon  the  surface,  and  sometimes  flattened  on  one  side,  as  if  held  in 
that  position  while  moved  over  a  bottom  of  gravel  or  sand  resting  up- 
on the  strata  beneath.  For  \}:i  most  part,  however,  thej'  bear  no  evi- 
dence of  attrition  beyond  what  similar  masses  do  a  few  miles  from 
their  parent  rock,  and  thus  offer  no  argument  for  their  mode  of  trans- 
portation. Many  of  them  are  angular,  and  with  no  appearance  of  at- 
trition be^'oud  what  the  weathering  in  their  present  situations  would 
produce.  The  process  l)y  which  fragments  of  gr;mite  become  rounded 
bowlders,  is  illustrated  by  the  desquamation  which  lakes  place  in  some 
granites,  the  weathering  in  place,  and  the  attrition  in  mountain  streams 
soon  after  leaving  their  native  beds.  A  large  proportion  of  the  bowl- 
ders of  western  New  York  aie  of  dark  felspathic  granite  and  red  gran- 
ites like  those  of  the  northern  part  of  the  State.  Some  other  varieties 
occur,  which  are  likewise  referable  to  the  same  region.  A  few  of  crys- 
talline limestone  with  serpentine,  and  a  few  of  specular  iron  ore  have 
been  found  which  are  like  rock  found  in  St.  Lawrence  county. 

In  many  places,  the  drift  hills  have  no  definite  direction,  but  those 
north  of  the  great  valleys  of  Seneca  and  Cayuga  lakes  are  long  ele- 
vated ridges,  rising  abruptly  on  the  north,  to  a  height  of  50  or  60  feet, 
and  sloping  gradually  down  to  their  southern  termination.  The  form 
of  the  hills  is  precisely  such  as  would  be  made  by  a  powerful  current 
passing  southward  through  these  valleys,  piling  up  the  coarser  ma- 
terials at  the  northern  extremity,  and  moving  the  liner  ones  farther  on, 


Mesozoic  and  Citaozoic  Geology  and  Paleontology. 


205 


until  they  were  in  some  measure  protected  by  tUis  barrier  before  they 
were  deposited. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  superficial  deposits  is  the  Lake 
ridge,  whicii,  from  Sodus  in  Wayne  county,  with  some  trilling  excep- 
tions, is  a  traveled  highway  nearly'  as  far  as  the  Niagara  river.  Be- 
yond this  it  can  be  traced  to  the  head  of  Lake  Ontario.  It  follows  the 
geuerul  lourse  of  the  Lake;  being  at  its  nearest  point  about  three 
miles  distant,  and  at  its  greatest  about  eight  miles.  In  some  places 
it  is  strongly  defined,  descending  toward  the  lake  twenty  or  thirty  and 
even  fifty  feet  in  a  moderate  slope.  It  consists  of  sand  and  gravel, 
and  contains  fragments  of  wood  and  shells,  and  in  every  respect  it  re 
sembles  the  sea  beaches.  It  was  undoubtedly  the  ancient  beach  of 
Lake  Ontario,  or  a  body  of  water  which  once  stood  at  this  elevation. 
The  toi)  of  the  lake  ridge  is  158  feet  above  Lake  Ontario  at  Lockport  ; 
185  feet  at  Middleport,  and  188  feet  at  Albion  and  Brockport.  ' 

Beside  this  well-defined  ridge  or  ancient  beach  there  are  a  number 
of  less  distinctly  defined  terraces  of  gravel  and  sand  at  much  higher 
elevations,  on  the  hill  sides,  leading  to  the  supposition  that  the  water 
of  the  Lake  stood  more  than  750  feet  higher  than  at  present,  or 
that  the  country  has  been  correspondingly  depressed. 

Prof.  W.  W.  Mather*  found  that  the  drift  scratches,  grooves  and  fur 
rows  conform  in  their  directions  to  those  in  which  currents  would  flow, 
if  the  country  were  mostly  covered  by  water.  In  some  parts,  the}'  cor- 
respond in  direction  to  the  main  water-sheds  ;  in  others  they  do  not, 
but  where  they  do  not,  the  deviation  is  owing  to  some  topographical 
feature  which  disturbed  the  course  of  the  currents  of  water. 

In  1845,  Alexander  Murray f  found  the  drift  of  western  Canada,  con- 
sisting of  various  beds  of  clay,  sand  and  gravel,  interspersed  with 
large  bowlders.  The  thickness  frequently  reaches  200  or  300  feet.  Tiie 
clay  cliflTs  of  Scarborough,  are  320  feet.  The  ridges  running  parallel 
to  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  are  200  or  300  feet,  and  the  high- 
lands in  Oxford,  are  100  or  200  feet,  and  even  more,  and  the  banks  of 
Grand  river  often  expose  a  considerable  amount  of  drift.  The  southern 
shores  of  lake  Simcoe,  are  extensive  sandy  plains,  which  are  in  many 
places  thickly  strewed  with  bowlders,  and  bear  proof  of  having  once  been 
the  bottom  of  the  lake.  Wherever  gravel  is  found,  its  pebbles  consist  of 
limestone,  and  with  the  larger  fragments  of  that  formation,  they  con- 
tain the  fossils  of  the  calcareous  strata  at  Rama  on  the  noith.     The 


•  'I'l 


*  Geo.  of  the  1st  Geological  Dist,  N.  Y. 
t  Geo.  Sur.  of  Canada. 


m 


290 


Tertiary. 


'      f 


ii  rt 


whole  formation  consists  of  tlie  disiiitpgrated  rocks  of  the  immediate 
locality,  or  those  at  no  great  distance  north.  The  grooves  and 
Mcratches  upon  the  rocks  between  Niagara  and  Hamilton,  have  a 
north  and  south  direction. 

In  1847,  W.  E.  Logp,n*  found  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Superior, 
about  tliree  miles  below  the  Petits  Ecrits,  six  terraces,  in  addition  to 
the  summit,  which,  presenting  a  level  surface  throughout  the  whole 
length,  may  be  considered  a  seventh.  Blocking  up  the  extremity  of  a 
deep  cone  from  the  rock  on  one  side  to  that  on  the  other,  the  accumu- 
lation is  a  barrier  to  an  extensive  flat  and  marshy  surface,  that  spreads 
out  in  a  valley  behind,  down  to  the  level  ot  which  there  is  a  rapid  slope 
from  the  summit  of  the  drift,  at  a  distance  of  about  1,000  yards  from 
the  margin  of  the  lake.  The  height  of  the  ancient  beaches  as  measured 
by  a  pocket  spirit-level  is  as  follows: 

Above  the  Lake.  Above  the  Sea. 
Feet.        Feet. 

Ist  Beach 30  627 

2d  "      40  637 

:Jd  "       90  687 

4th  "       224  821 

5th  "       259  856 

Hth  "       267  864 

7th  "      or  summit 831  928 

The  3d  and  4th  beaches  are  the  most  decidedly  marked,  the  steps, 
rising  behind  them,  sloping  up  at  an  angle  of  nearly  30°. 

Alexander  Murrayf  described  the  drift  on  the  Kamanitiquia  river, 
which  flows  into  Lake  Superior,  near  Fort  William,  as  consisting  be- 
tween McKay's  mountain  and  the  Grand  Falls,  where  the  principal 
display  was  found,  of  a  light  buff-colored  c\ay,  covered  over  by  strati- 
fled  yellow  ferruginous  sand,  both  together  attaining  a  thickness  of 
60  feet  above  the  level  of  the  water.  Banks  of  sand  were  found  on 
Dog  river,  at  a  much  higher  level  than  the  deposit  further  down. 

In  1848,  John  L.  LeconteJ  described,  from  a  Post-pliocene  deposit 
in  a  crevice  in  northern  Illinois,  Platygonus  compressus  and  Anomo- 
don  snyderi. 

Mr.  Charles  Whittlesey§  designated  the  different  beds  of  the  drift 
in  Ohio  and  the  West  as  follows  : 


*  Geo.  Sur.  of  Canada. 

+  Ibid. 

I  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  2d  sor.,  vol.  v. 

vj  Ibid. 


tti     :?     4 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geology  and  Pahtontoloyy.  297 


Ist.  ''Bine  hard  pan,''  resting  nnconformably  on  tlie  snrface  of 
the  stralified  rock^.  This  is  a  very  eompaet  mass  of  bine  clny,  marl 
and  sand,  inchiding  great  nnmbers  of  small,  partially  water-worn, 
crushed  and  striaud  pebbles,  principally  fragments  of  blue  limestone 
and  primitive  rocks.  It  contains  lime,  so  much  as  to  etfervesce  with 
acids,  and  to  hasten  vegetation  when  applied  to  land.  Beside  its  strong 
blue  color,  it  is  characterized  by  imbedded  timber,  dirt  beds,  leaves, 
sticks,  and  what  are  called  by  well  diggers  "grape  vines."  It  is  so 
solid  as  to  be  almost  impervious  to  water,  and  is  very  difficult  to  ex- 
cavate. 

2d.  "Yellow  hard  pan,"  resting  nnconformably  on  the  stratified 
rocks,  and  the  "  blue  hard  pan."  This  is  a  compact  material,  of  a 
dull  yellow  color,  with  fewer  >tony  fragments  or  pebbles,  and  less  cal 
careons  and  more  aluminous  matter  than  the  blue  hard  pan.  It  is  not 
quite  as  solid  as  the  blue,  more  pervious  to  water,  and  contains  more 
and  larger  pieces  of  primitive  rocks.  The  clays  of  the  country,  used 
for  bricks  are  principally  of  this  bed.  It  forms  a  hard,  stiff  soil, 
adapted  for  grass.  The  flat  regions  and  savannas  of  the  northwest 
quarter  of  the  State,  are  caused  by  the  surface  presence  of  this  bed. 

3d.  "Sand  and  gravel  drift,"  containing  granite  bowlders  (in  small 
numbers),  of  large  size,  and  unconformable  to  Nos.  1  and  2,  and  the 
other  rocks.  It  exhibits  little  regularity  of  stratification,  is  composed 
of  inferior  patches  of  coarse  sand  and  gravel,  intermingled  at  all  in- 
clinations, evidently  the  result  of  long  continued  and  vigorous  action 
of  watt"  in  rapid  motion.  The  gravel  is  coarse,  but  much  worn, 
rounded  and  smooth,  like  the  gravel  beds  of  rapid  streams.  The  por- 
tion of  earthy  matter  is  about  one  half,  of  a  reddish  and  yellowish  col- 
or, showing  the  presence  of  oxide  of  iron,  and  containing  various  pro- 
portions of  sand  and  clay.  Almost  every  rock  in  the  northern  part 
of  America  is  represented  in  the  gravel;  but  the  greatest  part  by  far 
is  from  the  underlying  and  adjacent  strata.  There  are  pebbles  of 
quartz,  trap,  granite,  gneiss,  conglomerate,  limestones  of  all  ages,  iron 
ore,  slate,  coal  and  sandstone.  In  this  there  has  been  found  timber 
but  very  rarel3% 

4th.  The  "  valley  drift,"  composed  principally  of  debris  of  the  ad- 
jacent rocks,  and  occupying  the  lower  parts  of  the  great  valleys  of  drain- 
age. It  is  more  gravelly  and  less  earthy,  and  the  gravel  is  more  of 
local  origin  tlian  in  No.  3,  while  the  beds  of  sand  are  less  common.  It 
is  in  the  "  valle}-^  drift''  or  swamp  mud  that  the  bones  of  the  mastodon 
and  other  large  animals  are  usually  found. 


:t!ii 


208 


Tertiary. 


il 


4  IB 

■f'  ■  s  I' 


:  i '  Hi  ;  ■ 
't  1  i'i 


t  - 


5tli.  "  LaciiHtrinc  deposits,"  occupying  tlie  basin  of  tho  lakes,  and 
for  Lake  Erie,  divided  into  the  "  blue  marly  sand,"  and  the  coarse  sand 
and  gravel.  The  "  blue  niaily  sand,"  coinmoiily  called  the  blue  clay  of 
Lake  P^rie,  is  seen  skirting  the  >ihore  almost  everywhere,  if  the  coast  is 
not  rocky, — its  upper  face  nearly  horizontal,  and  rising  from  forty-five 
to  sixty  feet  above  the  water.  Tt  is  of  a  light  blue  color,  so  fine  as 
scarcely  to  show  between  the  fingers  any  grit,  homogeneous,  and  in  a 
dr\'  static  compact,  bu^  brittle.  Very  rarely,  may  be  seen  a  primitive 
pebble,  thin  layers  of  leaves  and  lignite.  Tt  is  distinctly  and  horizon- 
tally laminated,  and  at  Cleveland  is  cotnposed  of  about  75  per  cent,  im- 
palpable sand,  3  per  cent,  iron,  fi  to  7  per  cent,  carbonate  of  lime,  9  per 
cent,  carbonate  of  magnesia,  and  of  vegetable  matter  and  sulphur.  Tt 
is  impervious  to  water,  and  thus  causes  thousands  of  springs  to  ap- 
pear at  its  surface,  which,  passing  out  over  the  edges,  dissolve  and 
carry  it  away  verj'  fast,  forming  a  quick  sand.  Tts  edge  is  pre«iented 
to  the  action  of  the  waves,  which  dissolve  and  carry  it  away  rapidly. 
As  it  is  not  tenacious  like  cla}',  and  not  capable  of  sustaining  itself 
under  its  own  weight,  and  that  of  the  sand  stratum  that  rests  ui)on  it, 
there  are  continual  breaks  and  slides  along  the  banks,  on  both  the 
American  and  Canadian  shores.  These  avalanches  of  earth  arc  from 
one  to  four  rods  in  width,  breaking  off  in  irregular  patches,  and  some- 
times sinking,  in  a  night  or  in  a  few  hours,  twent}'  or  thirty  feet,  leav- 
ing huge  fissures  through  which  the  water  of  the  springs  passes,  and 
rapidly  washes  the  earth  into  the  lake. 

At  the  water's  edge,  the  slide  frequently  raises  a  bank  of  about  the 
width  of  the  break,  several  feet  above  the  surface,  driving  back  for  a 
short  time  the  line  of  the  shore.  But  the  waves  acting  incessantly 
dissolve  the  new  barrier,  and  soon  commence  their  attacks  upon  the 
body  of  the  fallen  mass,  which  disappears,  and  is  before  long  followed 
by  a  fresh  avalanche  from  above. 

At  the  city  of  Cleveland,  where  the  bluff  shore  rises  70  feet  above 
the  lake,  the  encroachment  since  the  survey  of  the  town  in  1796,  has 
been  at  tho  foot  of  Ontario  street,  265  feet.  The  Canadian  shore,  from 
Detroit  river  to  Long  point,  is  losing  faster  than  the  American.  Be- 
tween Port  Stanley  and  Port  Rurwell,  on  the  British  side,  the  superior 
face  of  the  blue  marl  is  about  sixty  feet,  or  fifteen  feet  higher  than  at 
Cleveland,  and  has  in  the  upper  part  a  lighter  or  more  yellow  color.  In 
composition  the  yellowish  portion  is  more  argillaceous  than  the  bright 
blue,  and  appears  to  correspond  with  the  yellow  clay  stratum  of  Lake 
Champlain.     The  gi-eatesL  thickness  of  the  blue  murls  can  not  be  com- 


V. 

t' 
■■i 

il 


McHozoic  niul  Cn-noznic   Genhujif  and  J*ala>onf()Jof/tf. 


20!) 


[)ute(l,  as  11  largo  part  of  it  lies  below  the  lakn  level,  formiiii:;  the  hod  of 
more  than  one  half  of  Lake  Erie.  On  the  south  shore  it  extends  hut 
a  short  distance  into  the  interior,  forming  a  narrow  belt  of  low  eountry 
along  the  lake,  and  thinning  out  as  the  roeks  upon  whieh  it  rests  rise 
to  the  southward. 

•The  *'  coarse  sand  and  gravel"  of  this  division,  rests  conformably  on 
tho  "  blue  marly  sand,"  and  spreads  horizontally  over  a  tract  of  low, 
and  in  general  wet  land,  embracing  the  western  half  of  Tiake  Krie,  and 
extending  westward  into  the  States  of  Ohio  and  Michigan. 

On  the  north,  it  forms  the  soil  and  surface  ovct  a  large  portion  of  tin; 
peninsula,  between  Lakes  Krie  and  Huron;  whieh  seldom  rise  more 
than  200  feet  above  the  waters  of  these  lakes.  On  it,  and  composed  of 
its  coarse  water  washed  sand  and  gravel,  are  seen  the  "lake  ridges," 
objects  of  curiosity,  and  of  much  utility  in  a  new  country,  being  nat- 
ural turn[)ike8  that  run  parallel  with  the  shore.  At  Cleveland  the 
section  is  as  follows:  1st.  Gray,  water-washed,  coarse  sau'',  resting  on 
the  blue  marl,  10  feet.  2d.  Coarse  gravel  of  the  adjacent  rocks  and 
sand,  20  to  40  feet.  The  lake  ridges  are  not  precisely  horizontal,  and 
are  found  atvarions  elevations,  W,  90,  120  and  140  feet  above  the  water. 

There  are  branches  and  cross  ridges  uniting  different  pf.ra'lels,  that 
rise  and  fall  several  feet  in  a  mile. 

6th.  Bowlders  or  "erratic  rocks"  which  he  regarded  as  a  ''stratum," 
and  the  newest  of  all  l)eds  except  the  alluviunj. 

The  Drift  deposits*  are  very  extensive  on  the  southern  shore  of 
Lake  Superior,  and  more  especially  on  its  southeastern  coast.  There 
they  not  only  constitute  the  only  visible  formations  for  nearly  100 
miles,  but  they  also  attain  an  astonishing  thickness,  so  as  to  form,  by 
themselves,  ridges  and  cliffs  which  exceed  in  height  even  those  of  the 
Pictured  Rocks,  being  in  some  places,  as  at  the  Grand  Sable,  not  less 
than  360  feet  high.  The  Drift  is  less  conspicuous  along  the  western 
portion  of  the  lake  shore,  although  it  is  not  wanting  even  among  the 
romantic  and  precipitous  cliffs  of  the  Pictured  Rocks  and  the  Red 
Castles. 

The  Drift  of  lake  Superior  may  be  divided  in  ascending  order,  into — 

1st.  Coarse  drift.  This  is  the  least  conspicuous  of  all.  It  is  found 
only  in  a  few  places  along  the  southern  shore,  generally  capping  the 
high  towering  cliffs  of  sandstone.  It  is  generally  a  mixture  of  loam 
and  fragments  of  rock  of  different  sizes — sometimes  worn,  but  more 
generally  angular.     As  a  leading  feature,  it  is  almost  exclusively  com- 


*  Foster  and  Whitney's  Sur.  Lake  Sup.  Region,  18.50. 


.'{00 


Tertlnrii. 


if 
I » 

i: 


,1     la 

n  IK 


poHOfl  of  frajrmcnts  of  tho  rocks  in  situ,  Hhowiiijr  ilmt,  whntevnr  mny 
liiivn  l)oon  its  origin,  it  could  not  have  been  acted  upon  by  long  con 
tinned  agencies.     A  few  foreign  pebbles  exist  in  if,  genernlly  trap,  and 
evidently  derived  from  the  n<!ighborhood.     Greatest  thickness  liO  fe(!t. 

2d.  Drift  clay,  or  red  clay.  It  is  a  mixture  of  loam  and  clay,  and 
Its  color  is  owing  to  tho  decomposition  of  the  rod  sandstone  and  trap 
from  which  it  has  been  derived.  It  is  mainly  compo;4ed  of  very  finely 
conmiinuted  substances,  yet  there  are  pebbles  interpersed  through  it, and 
even  bowlders  of  considerable  si/e,  generally  rounded  and  smoothed. 
Fragments  of  metallic  ores  and  native  copper  occur  occasionally  in  it — 
the  latter  sometimes  weighing  several  hundred  pounds.  It  is  f(>und 
along  the  whole  southern  coast  of  lake  Superior,  resting  upon  the  red 
sandstone,  and  limited  to  a  certain  height,  but  on  tho  Ontonagon  and 
Carp  rivers,  it  is  found  in  depressions  ;m  elevated  lands,  500  feet  above 
the  lake.  At  Grand  Sable  wliore  its  base  rests  on  almost  horizontal 
strata  of  red  sandstone,  a  few  feet  above  tho  water,  and  its  top  is 
covered  by  a  mass  of  drift  sand,  it  is  60  feet  in  thickness,  and  ex 
hibits  lines  of  stratification  disposed  with  great  regularity. 

3d.  Drift  sand  and  gravel.  This  is  the  most  widely  diffused  of  the 
drift  deposits  on  the  shores  of  lake  Superior  and  the  northern  part  of 
Michigan.  The  greatest  thickness  observed  is  at  Grand  Sable,  where 
it  is  300  feet  thick. 

4th.  Bowlders.  These  occur  of  every  size  and  description  in  great 
numbers  along  the  whole  southern  shore.  The  largest  noticed  being 
of  hornblende,  and  measuring  15  feet  in  length,  11  in  width,  and  6^  in 
height.  The  bowlders  have  been  moved  from  north  to  south,  but  have 
not  come  from  far,  though  some  of  them  have  been  transported  from 
the  north  shore.  It  is  noticed  among  the  ridges  north  of  Carp  river, 
that  the  valleys,  for  the  most  part,  contain  bowlders  from  the  next 
ridge  to  the  north;  and  there  are  instances  where  a  ridge  did  notallo^\ 
the  fragments  of  the  preceding  ridge  to  pass.  This  limitation  pre- 
vails only  within  the  hilly  portion  of  the  Lake  Superior  region  between 
the  lake  shore  and  the  dividing  ridge.  South  of  this  ridge  no  barrier 
occurs. 

5th.  Drift  terraces  and  ridges.  These  may  be  seen  both  on  the 
north  and  the  south  sides  of  Lake  Superior,  but  the}'  are  less  striking 
than  around  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario.  The}'  are  most  conspicuous  on 
the  south  shore,  between  Saut  and  Keweenaw  point.  Their  average 
lieight  is  about  100  feet.  At  a  place  two  miles  east  of  Two  hearted 
river,  the  following  succession   occurs  :    gravel  beach,  5   feet  ;  sand 


i; 

i 

': 

:'  ■     1 

.  1 

* 

1 

' 

Mmozoh'  find  Cnnozoir  Geology  and  PnlcBonfolotjy.  'M\l 


beach,   12  foet  ;   l»l  drift  ternu<!,  2".»  foot;  2(1  tlril't  tornice,  4«»  lout; 
;jil  drift  torruct',  T5  feot  ;  suniinit  of  phitouu.  94  foot. 

The  rooktt  in  many  pIticoH  are  ^rouved,  scnitchcd  iind  polished. 
Tlu'HC  phononionn,  of  course,  can  he  ween  only  where  the  drift  dopositu 
are  absent.  The  groovin^H  consiHt  generally  of  |)arallel  fiirntws,  fron» 
one  to  four  lines  wide — souietinioa  extendirig  a  foot,  at  others  many 
yards.  Where  the  rock  is  very  hard,  they  are  mere  stria*.  Hollow 
spots  occur,  as  if  thoy  had  been  scooped  out  by  a  i(>und  instrumonti 
and  also  wide  bowl-i^haped  depressions,  known  as  troughs,  which  have 
been  caused  by  the  same  agenuy.  Grooves  and  scratches  were  ob- 
served on  the  road  from  Eagle  river  to  the  Clitt'  mines  running  N.  15° 
E.  On  an  island  oast  of  Dead  river  there  are  two  systems  of  striie — 
one  running  N.  and  8.,  and  the  other  N.  20°  E.  and  S.  20°  W.  The 
rock  here  which  is  very  hard  and  tough  hornblende,  isnotonl^  groovetl 
and  furrowed  over  its  whole  extent,  but  there  are,  beside,  deep  trough 
like  depressions,  with  perfectly  smoothed  walls,  some  12  to  15  feet  long, 
4  feet  wide,  and  2|  feet  deep.  On  Middle  Island,  east  of  Granite- 
point,  troughs  may  also  be  seen  4  feet  wide,  and  2  feet  tieep,  running 
like  the  stria3  N.  20''  PI  On  the  promontories  and  islands  near  Wor- 
cester, two  miles  west  of  the  mouth  of  Carp  river,  there  are  two  distinct 
sets  of  8tri>e  ;  those  running  N.  55°  E.  are  the  most  numerous  ;  those 
running  N.  5°  E.  the  least.  The  latter  cross  the  former  and  are  there 
fore  more  recent.  Some  of  them  are,  beside,  distinctly  curved,  as  if 
the  body  which  produced  them  had  been  deflected  in  ascending  the 
slope.  Each  set  of  striai  extends  only  about  one  foot  below  the  water's 
edge.  On  the  first  quartz  ridge,  one  mile  from  the  mouth  of  Carp 
river  500  feet  high,  the  striaj  run  N.  20°  E.  On  the  iron  ridge  south 
of  Teal  lake,  750  feet  high,  the  strioe  run  N.  55°  E.  At  the  Jackson 
forge  N.  65°  E.  A  green  magnesian  rock,  with  vertical  walls,  and  semi- 
cylindrical  form,  on  the  road  leading  from  Jackson  landing  to  Teal  lake 
is  covered  with  strite  which  may  be  traced  along  the  surface,  like  hoops 
around  a  gigantic  cask.  On  Isle  Royal  the  strire  run  N.  50°  E.  with 
many  local  deviations.  On  the  shores  of  Ackley  bay  striaj  near  the 
water's  edge  running  E.  and  W.,  cross  others  running N.  E.  and  S.  W., 
and  i/thers  again  running  S.  75°  E.  Isle  Royale  presents  but  little 
evidence  of  drift,  though  scattered  bowlders  are  found  upon  it;  the 
surface  of  the  rock  s  are  generally,  however,  smoothed,  as  if  polished 
off. 

Mr.  E.  Desor  described   the  superficial   deposits  on    the  northern 
shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  western  shore  of  Green  bay,  the  Big  Hay 


]  i:o,ii: 


■h 


ynii    . 


302 


Tertiary. 


(les  Noquets,  and  the  valleys  of  the  Menomonee  and  Manistee.  The 
coarse  drift  described  as  occurring  beneath  the  drift  proper,  at  several 
jjoints  along  the  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  seems  to  be  entirely  wanting 
in  this  district. 

Starting  from  Mackinac  westward,  the  furrows  and  strise  were 
noticed  at  the  bottom  of  St.  Martins  ba}',  and  two  miles  north  of  Pine 
river,  on  a  point  composed  of  almost  horizontal  ledges  of  limestone, 
having  an  average  direction  fi'om  E.  to  W.,  some  running  N.  80°  E., 
and  others  S.  70°  and  80°  E,  At  Payment  point  the  direction  being 
from  N.  50°  to  N.  60°  E.  At  the  bottom  of  Big  Bay  des  Noquets,  on 
the  west  shore  of  the  eastern  cove,  the  direction  is  E.  and  W.  At  the 
mouth  of  the  Escanaba,  in  Little  Bay  des  Noquets,  the  direction  is  N. 
E.  and  S.  W.  At  Oak  Orchard,  on  the  west  shore  of  Green  bay,  the 
direction  is  N.  15°  to  N.  20°  E.  At  the  saw  mill,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Menomonee,  the  direction  is  K.  and  W. ;  six  miles  above  Kitson's 
trading  house,  E.  N.  E.  and  W.  S.  W. ;  three  miles  above  Sturgeon's 
falls,  N.  65°  E.;  foot  of  the  Lower  Bukuenesec  falls,  N.  70°  E.;  Lower 
Twin  falls,  N.  G0°  to  N.  70°  E.;  and  at  Upper  Twin  falls,  N.  65°  to  70° 
E.  From  Green  bay,  southw^estward,  the}' were  noticed  at  INlehoggan 
point,  N.  E.  by  E.  and  N.  N.  E. ;  at  Mehoggan  falls,  N.  E.  by  N. ;  three 
miles  west  of  Milwaukee,  N.  E.;  and  at  Strong's  landing  on  Fox  river, 
N.  E.  by  E. 

The  true  drift  seldom  approaches  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan  and 
Green  bay,  but  it  is  mei  with  in  ascending  the  rivers  at  no  great  dis- 
tance. Its  absence  from  the  coast  is  the  result  of  subsequent  denuda- 
tion, when  the  waters  of  the  lake  stood  at  a  higher  level  than  at  present. 
It  was  observed  at  Poiute  aux  Chenes,  and  for  a  distance  of  six  miles 
toward  Payment  point,  and  on  Potawatomee  and  some  of  the  highei- 
islands.  The  thickness  at  Green  ba}'  was  found  on  boring  to  be  108 
feet. 

Near  the  junction  of  the  Machigamig  and  Brule,  where  the  united 
streams  take  the  name  of  Menomonee,  the  river  banks  are  composed  of 
drift,  forming  bluffs  100  feet  or  more  in  height.  The  drift  is  com- 
posed of  sand  and  layers  of  gravel  more  or  less  interspersed  through  it, 
and  covered  more  or  less  with  bowlders.  The  higher  lands  adjoining 
are  covered  with  the  same  materials.  The  country  adjacent  to  the 
Manistee  is  likewise  covered  with  the  drift  sand  and  pebbles.  The 
whole  country  drained  by  the  White-fish  and  its  branches,  and  the 
Escanaba  is  likewise  covered  with  the  drift.  The  drift  clay  is  well 
marked,  in  many  places,   below   the  drift  sand,  especially    upon  the 


Mesozoic  and  Ccunozoic  Geology  and  Paleontology. 


3o:i 


%{) 


Manistee,  where  it  does  not  generally  reach  more  than  4  or  5  feet  above 
the  river,  although  in  one  place  it  was  found  10  feet  thick.  It  is  very 
tough,  and  generally'  flesh  colored,  but  in  oue  instance  it  was  perfectly 
whitt^.  There  were  observed,  in  several  localities,  rather  coarse  pebbles 
of  limestone,  and  even  flat  stones  intermixed  with  the  upper  layer  of 
clay,  near  its  contact  with  the  sand. 

He  described  the  terraces  on  the  island  of  Mackinac  and  the  neigh- 
boring coasts,  on  the  west  coast,  and  at  Pointe  St.  Ignace  and  Gros 
Cap  on  the  north  coast  of  Lake  Michigan,  which  vary  in  height  from 
20  to  130  feet.  But  the  terraces  are  not  found  farther  west  on  the 
north  shore  of  Lake  Michigan  and  Green  bay,  nor  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Menomonee  and  Manistee. 

Mr.  Charles  Whittlesey,*  said  of  the  terraces  bordering  Lake  Erie, 
that  the  first  ridge,  or  that  nearest  the  lake,  is  known  as  the  '•  North 
ridge."  From  Conneaut,  in  Ashtabula  count}^  to  Russelton,  Huron 
county,  a  distance  of  120  miles,  the  elevation  of  the  ridge  above  the 
lake  varies  from  85  to  145  feet.  The  second  ridge,  from  Kingsville,  in 
Ashtabula  count}',  to  Ridgeville,  in  Lorain  count}',  varies  from  122  to 
168  feet  above  the  lake.  These  ridges  consist  of  coarse,  water-washed, 
yellowish  sand,  or  of  fine  gravel,  principally'  the  comminuted  portions  of 
the  adjacent  rocks.  The  rocky  fragments  are  not  generally  worn  per- 
fectly round,  or  oblong,  as  beach  shingle  is,  but  are  more  flat,  with 
worn  edges.  There  are  mingled  with  the  sandstones  and  shales  that 
compose  this  gravel,  scattered  pieces  of  quartz,  flint,  granite,  trappean 
rocks,  limestone  and  ironstone.  The  third  and  fourth  ridges  are  a 
little  higher,  and  composed  of  coarser  material. 

In  1852,  Charles  Whittleseyf  described  the  drift  in  that  part  of  Wis- 
consin bordering  on  Lake  Superior,  and  lying  between  the  Michigan 
boundary'  and  the  Brule  river,  and  the  sources  of  tiie  streams  flowing 
into  Lake  Superior  from  the  south.  He  divided  the  drift  into — 1st, 
red  marly  clay;  2d,  bowlder  drift,  coarse  sand  and  gravel. 

The  red  marly  clay  is  a  fine-grained,  homogeneous  marly  sand, 
cemented  b}^  argil  or  cla}',  with  well  defined  horizontal  lines  of  laminn- 
tion  or  deposition;  containing,  but  ver^'  rarely,  pebbles  of  granitoid, 
trappose,  sandstone,  conglomerate,  or  slate  rocks.  This  constitutes  the 
shore  or  lake  bluffs  most  part  of  the  way  from  the  Montreal  to  the 
Brule;  the  red  sandstone,  on  which  it  rests,  showing  itself  occasionally 
beneath.     It  is  easily  washed  away  in  suspension  by  tlie  waves,    and 


*  Am.  Jour.  Sei.  and  Arts,  2d  ser.,  vol.  x. 
t  Owen's  Geo.  Sur.,  Wis.,  Iowa,  and  Minn. 


304 


Tertiary. 


liavin<5  little  tenacit}',  falls  in  slides  and  avalanches  into  the  water,  and 
is  thui'  cut  into  deep,  narrow  j^ulliesby  rains.  Its  surface  in  the  above 
district  is  not  more  than  250  feet  above  the  lake,  sloping  gradually 
from  the  mountains  to  the  shore,  as  though  it  formed,  at  one  time,  the 
bed  of  an  ancient  sea.  On  the  waters  of  the  St.  Louis  river  on  the 
west,  and  the  Ontonagon  on  the  east,  however,  the  red  clay  deposits 
reach  to  the  height  of  450  to  500  feet  above  the  lake. 

On  the  "  Isle  aux  Barques"  the  lime  is  so  abundant  in  the  clay,  that 
it  has  formed  in  amorphous  concretions  throughout  the  mass.  A  few 
lea/es  and  decayed  sticks  have  been  seen  in  the  red  marl}'  clays, 
with  carbonaceous  matter  and  lignite,  but  such  occurrences  are  rare. 
Along  the  coast  there  are  interstratified  beds  of  sand  and  gravel  of  a 
local  character.  In  the  interior,  where  the  clay  is  visible  in  bold 
bluffs,  along  the  water  courses,  it  is  more  uniform  and  less  inter- 
calated with  coarse  drift.  It  rests  not  only  on  the  sedimentary 
unaltered  rocks,  but  also  on  trap  and  metamorphic  and  igneous  rocks. 

The  mass  of  the  hills  between  Chegwomigon  bay  and  the  Brule  river, 
is  gravel  and  bowlder  drift.  It  is  not  very  uniform  in  composition,  and 
is  marked  by  the  violent  action  of  water.  The  central  part  of  this 
peninsula  presents  large  tracts  of  barren,  water- washed  land,  and  mod- 
erately coarse  gravel.  Both  the  western  and  eastern  knobs  and  ridges 
are  of  coarse  materials;  and  toward  the  point  or  extremity  about  the 
"detour,"  and  the  adjacent  islands,  the  sand  and  bowlder  deposits  are 
represented. 

A  section  of  three  miles  from  the  coast  to  the  mountnins,  four  miles 
southwest  of  LaPointe,  showed  red  marly  claj'  95  to  130  feet  above  the 
lake,  capped  by  coarse  bowlder  drift,  the  top  of  whicli  is  428  to  509 
feet  above  the  lake.  This  drift  is  disposed  in  three  very  abrupt  and 
well  defined  terraces.  These  terraces  continue  southward  around  the 
southern  extremity  of  the  mountain,  and  have  the  appearance  of 
ancient  beaches  or  shores. 

In  1855,  Prof.  G.  C.  Swallow*  found  a  fine,  pulverulent,  absolutely 
stratified  mass  of  light,  grayish  bufi",  silicious  and  slightly  indurated 
marl,  capping  nearly  all  the  bluffs  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi 
within  that  State,  for  which  he  proposed  the  name  Bluff  lormation. 
The  Bluff  above  St.  Joseph  exhibits  an  exposure  140  feet  thick. 
It  is  easily  penetrated  by  the  roots  of  trees,  which  decay  and  leave  en- 
crusting tubes,  giving  it  a  peculiar  perforated  appearance.  It  extends 
from  Council  Bluffs  to  St.  Louis,  and  below  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio. 

*  (leo.  Sur.  of  Missouri. 


Jlenozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geology  and  Pahuontoloyy. 


305 


The  greatest  development  is  in  the  counties  on  the  Missouri,  from  the 
Iowa  line  to  Boonvillc.  In  some  places  it  is  200  feet  thick.  At  Boon- 
ville  it  is  100  feet  thick,  and  at  St.  Louis  only  50  feet. 

The  Bluff'  Group  is  older  than  the  bott(.m  prairie,  and  newer 
than  the  Drift.  It  gives  character  and  beauty  to  nearly  all  the  best 
landscapes  of  the  Lower  Missouri. 

He  found  the  drift  abounding  north  of  the  Missouri  river,  and  ex- 
isting in  small  quantities  as  far  south  as  the  Osage  and  Meramec.  Its 
thickness  varies  from  1  to  45  feet.  The  upper  part,  having  the  ap- 
pearance of  having  been  removed  and  rearranged  by  aqueous  agencies 
since  its  first  deposit,  but  before  the  deposit  of  the  Bluff  Group, 
is  described  as  altered  drift.  The  heterogeneous  strata  of  sand,  gravel, 
and  bowlders,  is  called  the  bowlder  formation;  and  below  this,  in  some 
places,  a  third  division  exists,  which  is  called  the  "pipe  clay."  It 
contains  bowlders  more  or  less  dispersed  through  the  upper  part  of  it. 
It  is  found  in  Marion,  Boone,  Cooper,  Moniteau,  Howard  and  Monroe 
counties,  varying  in  thickness  from  1  to  G  feet. 

William  P.  Blake*  described  the  grooving  and  polishing  of  hard 
rocks  and  minerals  by  dry  sand  in  the  Pass  of  San  Bernardino,  Cali- 
fornia, and  on  the  projecting  spurs  of  San  Gorgonia.  he  said,  grains  of 
sand  were  pouring  over  the  rocks  in  counties:^  myriads,  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  powerful  current  of  air  which  seems  to  sweep  constantly 
through  this  Pass  from  tlie  ocean  to  the  interior.  Wherever  he  turned 
his  eyes — on  the  horizontal  tables  of  rock,  or  on  the  vertical  faces 
turned  to  the  wind — the  effects  of  the  sand  were  visible;  there  was  not 
a  point  untouched,  the  grains  had  engraved  their  track  on  every  stone. 
Even  quartz  was  cut  away  and  polished;  garnets  and  tourmaline  were 
also  cut  and  left  with  polished  surfaces.  Masses  of  limestone  looked 
as  if  they  had  been  partly  dissolved,  and  resembled  specimens  of  rock 
salt  that  have  been  allowed  to  deliquesce  in  moist  air.  These  minerals 
were  unequally  abraded,  and  in  the  order  of  their  hardness;  the  wear 
upon  the  feldspar  of  the  granite  being  the  most  rapid,  and  the  garnets 
being  affected  least,  wherever  a  garnet  or  a  lump  of  quartz  was  im- 
bedded in  compact  feldspa:,  and  favorably  presented  to  the  action  of 
the  sand,  the  feldspar  was  cut  away  around  the  hard  mineral,  which 
was  thus  left  standing  in  relief  above  the  general  surlace.  A  portion 
however,  of  the  feldspar,  on  the  lee  side  of  the  garnets,  being  protected 
from  the  action  of  the  sand  by  the  superior  hardness  of  the  gem,  also 
stood  out  in  relief,  forming  an  elevated  string,  osar  like,  under  their 


'I'M 


Am.  Jour.  Sei.  and  Arts,  2d  sor.,  vol.  xx. 


306 


Tertiary. 


in 


A  1 


lee.  When  the  surface  acted  on,  was  vertical  and  charged  with  gar- 
nets, a  very  peculiar  result  was  produced;  the  garnets  were  left  stand- 
ing in  relief,  mounted  on  the  end  of  a  long  pedicle  of  feldspar,  which 
had  been  protected  from  action  while  the  surrounding  parts  were  cut 
away.  These  little  needles  of  feldspar  tipped  with  garnets,  stood  out 
from  the  body  of  the  rock  in  horizontal  lines,  pointing  like  jeweled 
fingers  in  the  direction  of  the  prevailing  wind. 

The  effects  of  driven  sand  are  not  confined  to  the  pass;  the}'  may 
be  seen  on  all  parts  of  the  desert  where  there  are  any  hard  rocks  or 
minerals  to  be  acted  upon.  On  the  upper  plain,  north  of  the  Sand 
Hills,  where  steady  and  high  winds  prevail,  and  the  surface  is  paved 
with  pebbles  of  various  colors,  the  latter  are  all  polished  to  such  a  de- 
gree that  the}'  glisten  in  the  sun's  rays,  and  seem  to  be  formed  b}'  art. 
The  polish  is  not  like  that  produced  by  the  lapidary,  but  looks  more 
like  laquered  ware,  or  as  if  the  pebbles  had  been  oiled  and  varnished. 
On  the  lower  parts  of  the  desert,  or  wherever  there  is  a  specimen  of 
silicified  wood,  the  sand  has  registered  its  action.  It  seems  to  have 
been  ceaselessly  at  work,  and  when  no  obstacle  was  encountered  on 
which  wear  and  abrasion  could  be  effected,  the  grains  have  acted  on 
each  other,  and  by  constantly  coming  in  contact  have  worn  away  all 
their  little  asperities  and  become  almost  perfect  spheres.  This  form  is 
evident  whenever  the  sand  is  examined  by  a  microscope. 

We  may  regard  these  results  as  most  interesting  examples  of  the 
denuding  power  of  loose  materials  transported  by  currents  in  a  fluid. 
If  we  can  have  a  distinct  abrasion  and  linear  grooving  of  the  hardest 
rocks  and  minerals,  by  the-  mere  action  of  little  grains  of  sand,  falling 
in  constant  succession,  and  bounding  along  on  t'»eir  surface,  what  may 
we  not  expect  from  the  action  of  pebbles  and  bowlders  of  great  size 
and  weight,  transported  by  a  constant  current  in  the  more  dense  fluid, 
water?  We  ma}'  conclude  that  long  rectilinear  furrows  of  indefinite 
depth  may  be  made  by  loose  materials,  and  that  it  is  not  essential  to 
their  formation  that  the  rocks  and  gravel,  acting  as  chisels  or  gravers, 
should  be  pressed  down  by  violence,  or  imbedded  in  ice,  or  moved 
forward  en  masse  under  pressure  by  the  action  of  glaciers  or  stranded 
icebergs.  Wherever,  therefore,  we  find  on  the  surface  of  moun- 
tains, not  covered  by  glaciers,  grooved  and  polished  surfaces  with 
the  furrows  extending  in  long  parallel  lines  seeming  to  indicate  the  ac- 
tion of  a  former  glacier,  we  should  remember  the  effects  which  may  be 
produced  during  a  long  period  of  time  by  light  and  loose  materials 
transported  in  a  current  of  air;  and  which,  consequently,  may  be  pro- 


Mesozoic  and  Cmnozoic  Geology  and  Pabvontolor/y. 


:{07 


duced  with  greater  distinctness,  and  in  a  dilTerent  style,  by  rocks 
moved  forward  in  a  current  of  water.  The  effects  produced  by  glaciers, 
by  drift,  or  moving  sand,  are  doubtless  different  and  peculiar,  so  dif- 
ferent and  characteristic,  that  the  cause  may  be  at  once  assigned  by 
the  experienced  observer,  who  can  distinguish  between  them  without 
difficulty.  It  is,  however,  possible  that  after  a  sand  worn  surfnce,  such 
as  has  been  described,  has  been  for  ages  covered  with  moist  earth,  a 
decomposition  of  the  surface  would  take  place  sufllciont  to  remove  the 
polish  from  the  furrows  and  leave  us  in  doubt  as  to  their  origin. 

Alexander  -Murray*  examined  a  portion  of  the  country  between 
Georgian  bay  in  Lake  Huron,  and  the  Ottawa  river.  He  followed  the 
course  of  the  Muskoka  river  to  its  head,  and  by  a  short  portage 
passed  to  the  source  of  the  Petewahweh,  and  by  its  channel  de- 
scended to  the  Ottawa.  Returning,  he  ascended  the  Bonnechere 
river  to  Round  lake,  from  which  he  crossed  to  Lake  Kamaniskiak 
on  the  main  branch  of  the  3Iadawaska,  and  descended  the  latter  stream 
to  the  York  or  southwest  branch,  from  whence  he  crossed  to  lialsam 
lake.  He  found  stratified  clays  on  the  Muskoka,  between  the  lake  of 
Ba3's  and  Ox-tongue  lake,  at  the  height  of  about  1,200  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea;  tiie  banks  expose  10  or  12  feet  in  thickness,  of  drab  or 
lij^ht  buff-colored  clays,  alternating  with  very  thin  layers  of  fine  yellow 
or  grayish  sand.  At  one  place,  the  beds  are  tilted,  showing  a  westerly 
dip  of  about  eight  degrees,  in  which  they  cxlMbit  slight  wrinkles  or 
corrugations.  Coarse  yellow  sand  overlies  the  clay,  and  spread'j  far 
and  wide  over  the  more  level  parts,  generally  forming  the  bank  of  the 
river,  where  not  occupied  by  hard  rock.  On  the  Petewahweh, 
especially  below  Cedar  lake,  the  whole  of  the  level  parts  are  covered 
with  sand,  which,  in  some  places,  is  of  great  thickness.  Cedar  lake  is 
about  1,050  feet  above  the  sea. 

The  banks  of  the  Bonnechere  display  a  great  accumulation  of  clay 
at  many  parts  below  the  fourth  chute,  sometimes  exposing  a  vertical 
thickness  of  from  70  to  80  feet.  Near  the  mouth  of  that  river,  below 
the  first  chute,  where  the  clays  form  the  right  bank,  and  are  u inward 
of  50  feet  high,  they  are  chiefly  of  a  pale  bluish-drab  color,  and  are 
calcareous,  while  other  clays  found  higher  up  the  stream,  are  of  a 
yellowish-buff,  and  do  not  effervesce  with  acids.  Below  the  second 
chute,  buflT-colored  clay  is  interstratified  with  beds  of  sand  and  gravel, 
the  latter  sometimes  strongly-  cemented  together  by  carbonate  of  lime, 
the  whole  being  overlaid  by  a  deposit  of  sand.     The  gravel  is  seldom 


ii  IIP 


Geo.  Siir.  of  Can.,  Rep.  of  Progr.  for  Ifi'ilJ. 


:jo8 


Tertiary. 


1: 


l%| 


very  coarse,  although  an  individual  bowlder  may  occur  here  and  there 
amongst  it,  and  it  is  chiefly  derived  from  tlie  rocks  of  the  Laurenlian 
series.  The  height  of  the  first  chute  above  the  sea,  is  2(55  feet;  the 
second  chute,  348  feet;  the  fourth  chute,  including  its  fall  of  39  feet, 
432  feet;  Round  lake,  r)20  feet,  or  nearly  GO  feet  below  Lake  Huron. 

Sand  is  extensively  distributed  over  the  plains  of  the  Bonnechere, 
and  over  a  large  portion  of  the  area  between  it  and  the  valley  of  the 
Madawaska.  Most  of  the  valley  of  the  Little  Madawaska  is  covered 
with  sand  on  either  side,  and  the  country'  between  its  head  waters  and 
Lake  Kamaniskiak  is  one  continuous  sandy  plain.  The  height  of  land 
in  passing  over  the  portage  to  the  Madawaska  is  9G8  feet  abuve  the 
sea,  and  Lake  Kamaniskiak  is  006  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  No 
organic  remains  have  been  detected  in  any  of  these  drift  deposits. 

He,  afterward,*  surveyed  the  valley  of  the  Mcganatawan  river  and 
part  of  the  coast  or  Lake  Nipissing.  Stratified  ela}^  was  found  on  the 
banks  of  the  Meganatwan,  abov3  the  second  long  rapids,  east  of  Doe 
lake.  The  color  is  a  brownish  drab;  it  is  very  tenacious,  and  does 
not  effervesce  with  acids.  The  highest  exposure  is  a  little  over  1,000 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  A  fine,  strongly  tenacious  cla}'  occurs 
on  the  Nahmanitigong  near  the  main  elbow,  where  the  upward  course 
of  the  river  turns  to  the  south  at  an  elevation  of  710  feet  above  the  sea. 
The  color  of  the  clay  is  chiefl}'  pale  drab  or  buff,  but  bands  of  reddish 
clay  are  interstratified  and  some  of  pale  blue  overlie  the  whole.  The 
clays  of  the  interior  are  usually  overlaid  by  a  deposit  of  coarse  yellow 
sand.  Among  the  bowlders  on  Lake  Nipissing,  man}'  were  observed  to 
be  of  a  slate  conglomerate  like  that  of  the  Huronian  series,  and  they 
were  frequently  of  very  great  size. 

In  the  succeeding  3'earf  he  explored  portions  of  the  Huron  and  wes- 
tern districts  of  the  Province  of  Canada,  and  found  that  the  course  of 
the  currents  which  had  borne  along  tl)<i  drift  was  from  northwest  to 
southeast.  This  is  indicated  by  the  pebbles  and  bowlders  of  metamor- 
phic  rocks  which  were  clearly  derived  from  the  Laurentiau  and  Huron- 
ian formations  on  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Huron,  and  bj' the  character 
of  the  fossiliferous  rocks  and  pebbles  which  have  been  moved  a  shorter 
distance,  and  by  the  grooves  and  scratches  which  invariably  have  a 
bearing  from  the  northwest  to  the  southeast. 

He,  afterward, J  made  a  surve}'  north  of  Lake  Huron,  where  he  found 


*  Goo.  Sur.  of  Ciinada.,  Rep.  of  Prog.,  1854. 
f  Rep.  of  Prog,  for  1855. 
t  Rep.  of  Prog,  for  ISSG. 


JUesozoic  and  Canozoic  Oeoloyy  and  Pala'.ontology. 


309 


])owlders  derived  from  the  Huronian  rocks  tlwit  had  been  moved  from 
their  source  and  transported  soutiierl}-.  In  the  valle3S  of  the  Wahna- 
pitae  and  French  rivers,  large  bowlders  of  conglomerate  rest  on  the 
contorted  gneiss  at  various  elevations  above  the  mark  of  the  greatest 
floods,  the  highest  probably  over  100  feet.  On  the  Sturgeon  and  Mas- 
kanongi  rivers,  and  on  Lake  \v^ahnapitaeping,  the  course  of  the  grooves 
and  scratches  is  S.  27*^  W..  with  scarcely  any  deviation,  but  farther 
west  the}^  seem  to  alter  their  course  to  a  more  westerly  direction,  and 
on  Round  lake  they  bear  S.  41°  W,;  while  at  the  long  lake,  near  the 
outlet  of  the  White  fish  river,  their  direction  is  S.  49°  W.  The  great 
deposits  of  silieious  sand,  which  are  spread  over  the  upper  valle}'  of 
the  Wahnapitae,  a'love  Wahnapitaeping  lake,  and  also  the  sand  in  the 
valley  of  the  Sturgeon  river,  are  probably'  ohiefl}'  derived  from  the 
ruins  of  the  Huronian  rocks.  Lake  Huron  is  578  feet  above  the  sea; 
Lake  Wahnapitaeping,  938  feet  ;  Round  lake,  775  feet  ;  Sturgeon 
river,  at  the  junction  of  the  ^faskanongi,  809  feet;  and  Maskanon- 
giwagaming  lake,  on  the  jSfaskanongi,  862  feet. 

In  1859,  he  described*  the  drift  north  of  Lake  Huron,  between  the 
valley  of  the  Thessalon  river  and  the  lake  coast  south  of  it,  and  be- 
tween the  valleys  of  the  Thessalon  and  the  Mississagui.  A  deposit 
of  clay  usually  of  a  brownish  drab  color  is  spread  over  a  large  portion 
of  the  region,  particularly  in  the  hollows  and  valleys,  and  is  frequent- 
ly exposed  on  the  banks  of  the  streams,  distinctly  stratified,  and  in 
considerable  thickness.  The  clay  is  overlaid  with  sand  which  extends 
far  and  wide  over  the  highest  table  lands,  and  a  great  part  of  the 
countiy  generally.  The  clay  deposits  of  the  Mississagui  and  Little 
White  rivers,  do  not  appear  to  attain  a  height  of  much  more  than  IGO 
feet  over  Lake  Huron.  Above  the  Grand  Portage  at  154  feet  above  the 
lake,  the  clay  is  replaced  by  a  great  accumulation  of  sand  and  gravel, 
the  gravel  becoming  coarser  and  more  pre v.alent  as  we  ascend  the  river. 
On  the  banks  and  flats  above  Salter's  base  line,  252  feet  above  the 
lake,  the  shingle  consists  of  rounded  masses  almost  all  of  Syenite,  the 
smallest  of  which  is  rarely  under  the  size  of  a  man's  fist,  and  the 
average  as  large  as  a  twelve  pound  canon  ball.  Many  of  the  masses 
are  much  larger,  and  in  addition  there  are  a  great  number  of  huge 
bowlders. 

Grooves  and  scratches  on  the  sides  of  the  lakes,  and  iu  the  valleys, 
have  the  same  general  bearing  of  the  valleys,  and  follow  the  meandoi- 
ings  of  the  lake  depressions.     Instances  are  as  follows:    On  the  island 


Geo.  Sur.  of  Caniida. 


:ao 


Tertiary. 


south  side  of  Echo  hike  S.  55°  W. ;  Iialf  a  mile  behjw  S.  70'^  W. ;  in  a 
depression  north  of  Walker  lake  S.  17°  W. ;  Thessalon  rivei  above 
Rock  lake  8.  25'-"'  W.;  west  and  south  sides  of  Rock  lake  S.  15°  W.; 
east  side  of  ba\'  at  Bruce  Mines  S. ;  northwest  end  of  Wahbiqueko- 
bingsing  lake  S.;  southeast  end  of  same  lake  S.  12°  W. 

Instinices*  of  the  abraded  and  polished  surfaces  of  rock  are  very 
numerous  ou  the  Canoe  route  from  Lake  Superior  to  Lake  Winnipeg. 
Near  Baril  Portage,  143  miles  from  Lake  Superior,  and  1,500  feet 
above  the  sea,  gneissoid  hills  and  islands  are  smooth  and  sometimes 
roughly  polished  on  the  northerly  side,  while  on  the  southern  side 
they  'xVQ  i)recipitous  and  abrupt.  On  Sturgeon  lake,  208  miles  from 
Lake  Superior,  and  1,156  feet  above  the  sea,  the  northeastern  extremi- 
ties of  hill  ranges  slope  to  the  water's  edge,  and  when  bare  are  always 
found  to  be  smoothed  and  ground  down.  The  aspect  of  the  south  and 
southwestern  exposures,  is  'that  of  precipitous  escarpments.  The 
summits  of  the  granite  hills  near  Lake  Winnipeg  are  abraded  and 
frequently  so  smooth  and  polished  as  to  make  walking  upon  them 
difficult,  if  not  impossible  in  moderately  steep  places. 

On  the  south  branch  of  the  Saskatchewan  the  drift  is  exposed  in 
clitfs  50  to  80  feet  in  altitude  at  the  bends  of  the  river.  The  drift  con- 
sists of  clay  with  long  lines  of  bowlders  in  it  at  different  elevations. 
Some  of  the  fragments  of  shale,  slabs  of  limestone  and  small  bowlders 
imbedded  in  the  clay,  stand  in  the  di'ift  with  the  longest  axis  vertical, 
others  slanting,  and  some  are  placed  as  it  were  upon  their  edges.  Long 
lines  of  bowlders  lie  horixontall}'  from  ten  to  twenty  feet  below  the 
surface  or  top  of  the  cliff,  while  below,  in  many  places,  close  to  the 
water's  edge,  and  rising  from  it  in  a  slope  for  a  space  of  25  to  30  feet, 
the  bowlders  are  i)acked  like  stones  in  an  artificial  pavement,  and 
often  ground  down  to  a  uniform  level  by  the  action  of  ice,  exhibiting 
ice  grooves  and  scratches  in  the  direction  of  the  current.  This  pave- 
ment is  shown  for  manv  miles  in  airoregate  length  at  the  bends  of  the 
river.  Sometimes  it  resembles  line  mosaic  work,  at  other  times  it  is 
rugged,  where  granite  bowlders  have  long  resisted  the  wear  of  the  ice, 
and  protected  those  of  softer  materials  lying  less  exposed. 

Two  tiers  of  bowlders,  separated  by  an  interval  of  20  feet,  are  often 
seen  in  the  claj'  cliffs.  The  lower  tier  contains  very  large  fragments  of 
water-worn  limestone,  granite  and  gneissoid  bowlders,  above  them 
is  a  hard  sand  containing  pebbles;  this  is  followed  by  an  extremely 
line   stratified  clay,  breaking  up  into  excessively  thin  laj'ers,  which 

*  Assiniboine  and  Saskatchewan  Expl.  Exped. 


Mesozoic  aiul  Ccennzoic  Oeolorfi/  and  P<tla>ontolr>riy. 


311 


envelope  detafhed  partu'le.s  of  saiul,  Hinall  pebbles  ami  aji^gregations  of 
particles  of  sand.  Above  the  fine  stratilied  elay,  yellow  clay  aud  un- 
stratilied  sand  occur. 

Bowlders  are  found  on  the  Qn'Appelle  and  its  allluents,  lielow  the 
Moose  Woods,  and  north  of  the  Assiniboiiie,  measuring-  from  10  to  25 
feet  or  more  in  diameter. 

In  Lake  Winnipeg,  ice  every  year  brings  vast  bowlders  and  frag- 
ments of  rock  of  the  Laurentiau  series,  which  occupy  its  eastern  shores, 
and  distributes  them  in  the  shallows  and  on  the  beaches  of  the 
western  side.  In  Lake  Manitobah,  long  lines  of  bowlders  are  aecumu 
kiting  in  shallows  and  forming  extensive  reefs;  the  same  operation  is 
going  on  in  all  the  lakes  of  this  region,  and  is  instrumental  in 
diminishing  the  area  of  the  lake  in  one  diro(!tion,  which  is  probably 
compensated  by  a  wearing  awa^'  of  the  coast  in  other  i)laces. 

A  remarkable  beach  and  terrace,  showing  an  anciimt  coast  line  be- 
tween Lake  Superior  and  Lake  Winnipeg,  separates  Great  Dog  from 
Little  Dog  lake  o'l  the  Kaministiquia  canoe  loute.  The  Great  Dog- 
portage,  55  miles  from  Lake  Superior  b}-  the  canoe  route,  rises  490 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  Little  Dog  lake,  and  the  greatest  elevation 
of  the  ridge  can  not  be  less  than  500  feet  above  it.  The  difference  be- 
tween the  level  of  Little  and  Great  Dog  lakes,  is  347.81  feet,  and  the 
length  of  the  portage  between,  one  mile  and  53  chains. 

The  base  of  the  Great  Dog  mountain  consists  of  a  gnelssoid  rock, 
supporting  numerous  bowlders  and  fragments  of  the  same  material. 
A  level,  plateau  of  clay  then  occurs  for  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile,  at  an 
altitude  of  283  feet  above  Little  Dog  lake,  from  which  arises,  at  a  very 
acute  angle,  an  immense  bank  or  ridge  of  stratified  sand,  holding 
small  water-worn  pebbles.  The  bank  of  sand  continues  to  the  sum- 
mit of  the  portage,  or  185  feet  above  the  clay  plateau.  East  of  the 
portage  path  the  summit  is  500  feet  above  Little  Dog  lake. 

Here  we  have  a  terrace  500  feet  above  Little  Dog  lake,  oi  863  feet 
above  Lake  Superior,  or  1,403  feet  above  the  sea.  Another  beach  or 
terrace  occurs  at  Prairie  portage,  104  miles  by  the  canoe  route  from 
Lake  Superior,  190  feet  above  Cold  Water  lake,  or  900  feet  above  Lake 
Superior,  or  over  1,500  feet  above  the  sea. 

In  the  valley  of  Lake  Winnipeg,  the  first  prominent  beach  or  terrace 
is  the  Big  ridge.  Commencing  east  of  Red  river,  a  few  miles  from  the 
lake,  it  pursues  a  southwesterly  course  until  it  approaches  Red  river. 
v.ithin  four  miles  of  the  Middle  settlements;  here  it  is  67^  feet  above 
the  prairie;  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  a  beach  on  Stony  moun- 


:U2 


Tevtiary. 


1 


tain  corruspoiuls  with  tlio  \\\)X,  ri(l<jo,  Jind  heyotul  it  foriiiH  the  limit  of 
;i  I'orinor  oxtcnsioii  of  Lalvo  Winiiipi'^'.  On  tlio  cjist  side  of  livA  river 
tiie  I5i<^  ridgu  is  tniced  iicjirly  duo  south  IVoni  tlu;  ^Middle  Hcttlonient 
to  vvhuie  it  crosses  llie  Kosejiu,  40  miles  tVcm  tlie  mouth  (jf  that  stream, 
and  on  or  near  the  49th  parallel.  It  is  next  met  with  at  Pine  creek, 
in  the  State  of  iNIiniiesota,  and  from  this  poiut  it  may  be  said  to  form 
a  continuous  level  ijravel  road,  beautifully  arched  and  about  100  feet 
broad,  to  the  shores  of  Lake  Winnipej^,  120  miles.  On  the  west  side  of 
Red  river,  north  ofthe4Iith  parallel,  and  north  of  the  Assiniboine,  froin 
a  point  near  Stony  mountain,  it  extends  to  near  Prairie  Portaj>e,  where 
it  has  been  rcMuoved  by  the  Prairie  Portaye  river  and  the  waters  of 
the  Assiniboine.  It  may  be  seen  again  on  White  Mud  river,  about 
20  miles  west  of  Lake  Manitobah. 

In  the  rear  of  Dauphin  lake,  the  next  ridge  in  ascending  order 
occurs;  it  forms  an  excellent  pitching  track  for  Indians  on  the  east 
Hank  of  the  Riding  mountain.  At  Pembina  mountain  four  distinct 
steps  or  beaches  occur,  the  summit  of  which  is  210  feet  above  the 
prairie. 

Tlie  lower  prairies  enclosed  by  the  Big  Ridge  are  everywhere  inter- 
sected by  small  subordinate  ridges  which  often  die  out,  and  are  evi- 
dently the  remains  of  shoals  formed  in  the  shallow  bed  of  Lake  Winni- 
peg, when  its  waters  were  limited  by  the  Big  ridge.  The  long  lines  of 
bowlders  exposed  in  two  parallel,  horizontal  rows,  about  20  feet  apart, 
in  the  drift  of  the  south  branch  of  the  Saskatchewan  above  mentioned, 
are  the  records  of  former  shallow  lakes  or  seas  in  that  region. 

They  may  represent  a  coast  line,  but  more  probably  low  ridgjs 
formed  under  water,  upon  which  bowlders  were  stranded.  The  fine 
layers  of  stratified  mud,  easil^y  split  into  thin  leaves,  which  lie  just 
above  them,  show  conclusively  that  they  were  deposited  in  quiet  water; 
their  horizontality  proves  that  they  occupied  an  ancient  coast  or  ridge 
below  the  comparatively  tranquil  water  of  a  lake  of  limited  extent;  the 
vast  accumulations  of  sand  and  clay  above  them  establish  the  antiquity 
of  the  arrangement;  and  the  occurrence  of  two  such  layers,  ))arallel  to 
one  another,  and  separated  bj^  a  considerable  accunmlation  of  clay  and 
sand,  leads  to  the  inference  that  the  conditions  which  established  the 
existence  of  one  layer  also  prevailed  during  the  arrangement  of  the 
other.  It  may  be  that  these  are  bowlders  distributed  over  the  level 
floor  of  a  former  lake  or  sea,  and  they  msiy  cover  a  vast  area. 

The  Pembina  mountain  is  par  excellence  the  ancient  beach  in  the 
valley  of  Lake  Winnipeg.     It  is  not  a  mountain,  nor  yet  a  hill.     It  is  a 


Mdsozoir  (Did  Cmnozoir   Genlof/i/  nutf   Vnl(jin)ilitln<i\j. 


'^\'^ 


terraco  of  tablo  Innd,  Uio  iiiicicnt  shore  of  a  <j;rt'at,  body  of  watoi*.  tlial 
oiu'c  lllhul  the  wliolo  of  tin;  Red  river  valley.      It  is  only  210  feet,  altove 
thf  level  of  the  siirmniidiiig  prairie,  or  hetwi'cii  '.>00    and    l.()(H)    feet 
above  the  oecan  level.     High  above  lVnd)ina  mountain  the  stens  and 
plateaux  of  the  Riding  and  Duck  mountains  ariso  in  well  dellned  sue 
C'essi(ui.     On  the  southern  and  southwestern  slopes  of  these  ranges  tiie 
terraces  are  distinctly  detined,  on  the  northeast  and  north  sides  the 
Riding  and  Duck  mountains  present  a  precipitous  (;scarpment  which 
is  elevated  fully  1,000  feet  ai)ovo  Lake;  Winnipeg,  or  more  than   1,000 
feet  above  the  sea.     One  of  the  terraces  here  is   I,42(S    feet   above   the 
level  of  the  ocean.     The'  denudation  of  the  (Cretaceous,  in  the  valley  of 
Lake  Winnipeg,  lias  been  enormous,  because  tlu^  shales  crop  out  500 
feet  above  Daui)hin  lake,  where  their  position  is  nearly  horizontal,  and 
evincing  their  former  extension  to  the  northeast,  if  not  as  far  as  the 
north  shore  of  Lake  Winnipeg.     Sand  hills  and    dunes  occur  on  the 
Assiniboiiie,  Qu'Appelle,  South  IJranch,  and  north  of  Touchwood  hills, 
Prof.  Vj.  W.  Hilgardf  described  the  drift  (he  called  it  the  Orange 
Sand  formation)  as  covering  the  greater  part  of  the  State  of  Missis- 
sippi.    It  is  overlaid  by   the    lilutf   Group,    and    is    not.    therefore, 
above  Natchez,  exposed  o;i  the  surface,  within  eight  to  twelve  miles  of 
the  Mississippi  river  ;    below  Natchez,  however,  it  forms  the  White 
cliffs  on  the  Mississippi  itself.      It  does  not  cover  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  State,  and   is  absent    from    other  limited   patches.      The 
thickness   is  quite    variable,    sometimes    reaching   200    feet,    though 
usually  not  more  than  40  to  60  feet.     The  material  is  usually  silicious 
sand,  colored  more  or  less  with  hydrated  peroxide  of  iron,  or  orange- 
yellow  ochre.      Sometimes  pebbles  or  shingle,  either  cemented    into 
puddingstone,  or  more  frequently  loose  and  commingled  with  sand  or 
clay  occur,  and  at  other  times  limited  deposits  of  clay  are  found.     It 
contains  fossils  from  the  Silurian,  Devonian,  Carboniferous,  and  Cre 
taceous  formations  which  are  exposed  to  the  north  in  Tennessee,  Ken- 
tucky, Indiana,  Illinois  and  Ohio,  and  silicified  wood  from  the  lignite 
strata  of  Mississippi.     The  character  of  the  surface  upon  which  it  rests 
its  own  irregular  stratification,  and  the  dependence,  to  a  great  extent, 
of  the  nature  of  its  materials,  upon  that  of  the  underlying  formations, 
proves,  beyond  question,  that  its  deposition,  pi-eceded  and  accompanied 
bj'  extensive  denudations,  has  taken  i)la.e  in  flowing  water,  the  effect 
of  whose  weaves,  eddies  and  counter  currents,  is  j)lainl^'  recognizable  in 
numerous  profiles.     Nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  that  the  general  diroc- 

*  Geo.  Sur.  of  Miss. 


f 


1! 

.   )  . : 

J 

I  i 

:tl4 


Tei'fidt'!/. 


I 


tioii  of  the  ciHTiMit  was  from  north  to  Hoiitli,  iiltlionj^h  lociilly  clmii^fcil 
(»r  (lirt'C'tcd  hy  the  pre  existinj;'  ■mo(|iiiiliti('s  of  tb.c  surface. 

The  drift  is  Hiiceccchid   on  the  MiHsiHsippi   by  si  narrow  belt,  ealled 
th(!  Hluf!  Group,  but  in  other  parts  of  tlie  State  the;  drift  is  eovered  by 
a  y(.'llow  loam,  which  also  sufeeeds  the  niulf.     The  second  bottom,  or 
Ilointnoek  deposits,  and  the  alluvial,  are  yet  more  recent  in  their  char 
acter. 

Drift  materials"*  ar(!  strewn  over  a  jjfreat  [)art  of  the  surface  of  Michi 
'^iiu.  At  Kast  Sa<^inaw  these  luatei'ials  arc  from  00  to  100  feet  thick, 
and  at  Detroit  DJO  feet  thick.  Wherever  large  surfaces  of  the  under- 
lyiuj^  rocks  are  exposed,  they  arc;  found  to  be  more  or  less  smoothed 
and  striated.  The  island  of  Mackinac  shows  the  most  indubitable  evi- 
ilence  of  th(!  former  height  of  the  water,  2r)0  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
lake.  The  trunks  of  white  cedar  trees  are  not  uncommon  in  the  drift, 
and  on  the  north  shore  of  Grand  Traverse  bay  there  is  a  bed  of  lignite. 

In  18()2,  Prof.  J.  D.  Whitney  pointed  ont,f  approximately,  the  terri- 
tory in  northern  Illinois,  western  Wisconsin,  northeastern  Iowa,  and 
eastern  Minnesota,  that  is  destitute  of  drift.  This  tract  is  several 
hundred  miles  in  length,  and  from  100  to  200  miles  in  width.  There 
is  an  entire  absence  of  bowlders  or  pebbles,  or  any  rolled  and  water- 
w;)rn  materials,  which  by  their  nature  would  indicate  that  the  region 
in  question  had  been  exposed  to  the  action  of  those  causes  by  which 
the  drift  phenomena  were  produced.  The  surface  of  the  rock  is  uneven 
and  irregular,  bearing  the  marks  of  chemical  rather  than  of  meclmnieal 
erosion,  and  there  are  no  furrows,  stria;  or  drift  scratches,  such  as  may 
be  observed  on  many  of  the  rocks  over  which  the  drift  has  been  moved. 

He  concluded: 

1st.  That  there  has  existed,  ever  since  the  period  of  the  deposition 
of  the  Upper  Silurian,  a  considerable  area,  chiefly  in  Wisconsin  and 
near  the  Mississippi  river,  which  has  never  been  sunk  below  the  level 
of  the  ocean,  or  coveivd  bj'  any  extensive  and  permanent  body  of 
water,  and  which,  consequently,  has  not  only  not  received  an}'  newer 
deposit  than  the  Upper  Silurian,  but  has  also  entirely  escaped  the  in- 
vasion of  the  drift,  which  took  place  over  so  vast  an  extent  of  the 
northern  hemisphere. 

2d.  That  the  extensive  denudation,  which  can  be  shown  to  have 
taken  place  in  this  region,  as  witnessed  by  the  outliers  of  rock  still  re- 
maining, and  the  general  outline  of  the  surface,  has  not  been  occasioned 


'•'  Geo.  Sur.  of  Mich..  1861. 
T  Geo.  Sur.  of  Wisconsin. 


MeHozoic  find  Cn-iiozoi<'  Geolotji/  nnd   /'a/n oiifnloiji/. 


'.\Uy 


by  any  ciirrcMits  of  wat«'r  HWCM'piiijjf  ow.v  i\n>  Hiirfiici',  iimlcr  soin*'  i?i('iit 
gt'ticrtil  ciiiisc,  Imt  tliiit  it  litis  nil  Ix't'ii  quietly  iiiid  siU'iitly  ctl't'clt'd  by 
the  Hiii)i)I(!  ti<retu'y  of  ruin  iitid  frost,  iietlng  uninterruptuilly  tluoiigli  u 
vnst  period  of  time. 

'M.  That  11  lurj^e  portion  of  the  siip((ifleiul  detritus  of  the  West,  even 
ill  those  re<i;ion«  where  drift  howldcsrs  are  met  with,  nuist  have  had  its 
orif^iu  ill  the  siihierial  destriietioii  of  the  roeks.  the  soluble  portion  oi 
them  having  been  <^ra(bially  lemovetl  by  the  percolating  water,  while 
that  wliicli  remains  represents  tin;  insoluble  resiihium,  the  sand  ami 
clay,  which  was  originally  present  in  smaller  q .'.untitles  in  the  strata 
thus  acted  on. 

Bowlders  of  liaurcntian  roeks*  are  found  in  considerable  mimbers 
scattered  over  the  high  tableland  of  western  Ciuiada,  south  of(ieorgiau 
bay.  A  |)ortion  of  tins  ri!gi(m  attains  an  elevation  of  1,760  feet  aliove 
the  sea.  These  blocks  are  generally  more  angular  than  those  from  a 
similar  source  found  at  lower  levels,  and  are  associated  with  many 
others  of  local  origin. 

The  stratified  drift  is  separable  into  two  divisions  in  western 
Canada,  the  lower  of  which,  called  the  Erie  cUiy,  had  been  partially 
worn  awny  before  the  deposition  of  the  upper  so  as  to  prochice  un- 
conformability.  The  Erie  clay  is  commonly  more  or  less  calcareous, 
and  always  holds  ])owlders  in  greater  or  less  abundance.  Tlie  thick- 
ness at  any  one  place  does  not  exceed  200  feet,  but  clays  belonging  to 
this  division  occur  at  various  levels  from  60  feet  below  the  surface  of 
Lake  Ontario  to  100  feet  above  Lake  Huron,  showing  difl'erences  in 
level  of  about  500  feet.  It  occurs  along  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Erie 
from  Long  Point  westward  to  the  Detroit  river,  and  appears  to  under- 
lie the  whole  country  between  this  part  of  the  lake  and  the  main  body 
of  Lake  Huron.  It  is  found  at  Owen  sound,  and  along  Nottawasaga 
river,  and  along  the  shores  of  Lake  Ontario  as  far  east  as  Brockville. 
The  upper  division  is  called  the  Saugeen  clay,  because  it  is  well  ex- 
posed along  the  Saugeen  river.  It  consists  of  a  thinly-bedded,  brown 
calcareous  clay,  generally  containing  but  few  bowlders  or  pebbles. 
This  division  occurs  also  at  all  levels  from  Lake  Ontario  to  100  feet 
above  Lake  Huron,  sliowing  differences  of  level  almost  equal  to  that 
of  the  lower  clay. 

At  the  oil  wells,  on  the  1.3th  and  14th  lots  of  the  10th  range  of  Ennis- 
killen,  two  beds  of  gravel,  of  four  and  live  feet  respectively,  have  been 
met  with  in  the  clay,  at  depths  of  ten  and  forty-four  feet  from  the  sur- 

*  Geo.  Sur.  of  Canada,  1863 


316 


Tertiary. 


face,  making  a  total  section  of  clay  and  gravel  of  49  feel.  Unio  circtilus, 
U.  gihhosvs,  and  valves  of  a  Cyclas  were  found  in  the  upper  bed  of 
gravel,  and  a  deer's  bone  was  said  to  have  been  found  also.  Between 
tiie  gravel  and  the  overlying  10  feet  of  clay,  a  thin  la3'er  of  impure 
mineral  pitch,  or  half  dried  petroleum,  intervenes,  inclosing  leaves  of 
land  plants,  and  occasionally  insects.  Fresh-water  shells  occur  in  the 
clay  on  the  Detroit  river.  At  Niagara  Falls  the  Silurian  limestone  is 
covered  by  120  feet  of  sand}''  loam,  holding  striated  pebbles  and  small 
bowlders,  and  containing  near  the  middle  the  shells  of  a  species  of 
Cyclas.  It  is  overlaid  by  fifteen  feet  of  thinly  bedded,  reddish-brown 
cla}',  containing  similar  pebbles  and  angular  fragments.  This  deposit, 
whose  summit  is  60  feet  above  tlie  level  of  Lake  Erie,  forms  a  bank 
which  continues  up  to  Chippawa.  Valves  of  the  Cyclas  occur  in  the 
upper  cla3%  in  calcareous  nodules,  at  a  railwa)'  cut  betwen  Kingston 
and  the  Grand  Trunk  railway  station,  and  leaves  of  a  plant  resembling 
Vacciniuin  occur  in  a  laminated  brownish  clay  at  Newborough.  At 
the  upper  termination  of  the  town  plat,  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
Goulais  :'ivr>r,  there  is  a  deposit  of  the  roots  and  limbs  of  trees,  im- 
bedded in  a  bluish  scaly  material,  apparently  a  mass  of  compressed 
leaves  and  moss,  which  rests  upon  a  bed  of  clay,  and  is  overlaid  by  a 
mixture  of  clay  and  sand;  the  whole,  with  a  stratum  of  sand  at  the  top, 
constitutes  a  bank  of  from  20  to  24  feet  high.  The  bed  of  vegetable 
matter,  which  is  from  one  to  three  feet  thick,  and  about  ten  feet  over 
the  river  at  the  western  end  of  the  exposure,  dips  gently  and  evenly  up 
the  stream;  while  a  thin  bed  of  reddish  clay,  intervening  between  the 
overl3'ing  arenaceous  clay,  and  the  stratum  of  sand  which  forms  the 
surface,  seems  to  be  perfectly  horizontal.  On  the  south  side  of  Lake 
Superior,  letween  White-fish  Point  and  the  Painted  Rocks,  a  great 
deposit  of  sand,  interstiatified  with  gravel,  is  spread  over  the  surface 
of  the  country.  At  the  Grand  Sable,  a  short  distance  west  from  the 
Grand  Marais,  it  rises  here  and  there  almost  vertically  from  the  lake 
to  a  height  of  300  feet.  A  bed  of  vegetable  matter  occurs  below 
a  layer  of  mixed  sand  and  clay,  and  beneath  this  hill  of  sand  and 
gravel,  which  contains  Thuya  occidentalism  Betula  paperacea,  and 
populus  balsarnifera. 

Behind  the  Sault  Ste  Marie,  a  terrace,  varying  in  its  height,  but 
averaging  perhaps  150  feet  above  Lake  Superior,  and  often  composed 
of  clay  in  red  and  drab  layers,  stretches  from  the  Laurentide  hills 
southward  towo'-""  the  St.  Mary  river.  About  a  mile  below,  and  again 
about  four  miles  above  the  foot  of  the  Sault,  this  terrace  comes  near 


Wi 


Mesozoic  and  C<fnozoic  Geoloyif  and  PalcBontology. 


;{17 


iieav 


the  edge  of  the  river,  unci  recedes  in  sweeping  curves  in  botli  direc- 
tions from  erch  of  these  points.  A  bjiy,  two  miles  and  a  Imlf  in 
depth  is  thus  left  between  them,  and  is  occupied  by  a  barren  plain  of 
no  great  elevation  above  the  river,  partly  covered  with  coarse  brown 
sand,  and  partly  strewn  with  bowlders  of  nortliern  metamorphic  rocks 
and  angular  fragments  of  Silurian  sandstone,  which  are  sometimes 
arranged  in  small  bare  ridges  parallel  to  the  present  direction  of  the 
river.  The  surface  has  thus  the  appearance  of  having  formerly  been 
covered  with  swiftly  flowing  water. 

To  the  north  of  Lake  Huron,  and  between  the  Georgian  bay  and  the 
Ottawa  river,  part  of  the  surface  of  the  country  consists  of  bare  rock, 
but  where  any  superficial  covering  exists,  it  is  almost  invariably  a 
yellow  sand.  A  belt  of  loose  gravel,  remarkable  for  its  great  extent, 
stretches  in  a  southward  direction  across  the  peninsula  of  western 
Canada,  from  near  Owen  sound  to  Brantford,  a  distance  of  100  miles. 
Its  average  breadth  is  nearly  23  miles,  and  its  total  area  more  than 
2,000  square  miles.  This  great  belt  of  gravel  has  a  general  parallelism 
with  the  Niagara  escarpment,  and  consists  in  large  part  of  the  ruins 
of  the  underlying  Guelph  and  Niagara  Groups,  though  pebbles  of  the 
Huronian  and  Laurentian  rocks  are  everywhere  mixed  with  the  others, 
and  fragments  of  the  Hudson  River  Group  occasionally  occur. 

Beside  these  clays  and  sands  there  are  several  local  accumulations 
in  western  Canada,  often  marked  by  fresh-water  shells.  These,  to- 
gether with  various  ridges  and  terraces,  which  are  conspicuous  features 
in  the  surface  geology  of  this  region,  appear  for  the  most  part  to  have 
been  formed  bj-  the  waters  of  the  great  lakes,  when  their  extent  was 
much  greater  than  at  present.  The  most  considerable  deposit  of  this 
kind  is  the  sandy  tract  in  the  county  of  Simcoe,  which  extends  south- 
eastward from  the  head  of  Nottawasaga  bay,  and  has  an  area  of  more 
than  300  square  miles.  JJnio  complaitatus,  C'yclas  dubla,  C.  simULs, 
Amnicola  porata,  Valvata  tricariiiata,  V.  pis-inalis,  Planorbis  trivol- 
vis,  P.  ccunpanulatus,  P.  btcarinatus,  Limncua  palustris^  and  Physa 
ancillaria,  occur  at  from  30  to  40  feet  above  the  level  of  Lake  Huron, 
and  twenty  miles  distant  near  the  Nottawasaga  river.  Planorbis  tri- 
colvis,  and  throe  species  of  Helix,  were  found  in  sand  and  gravel  in  a 
road  cutting  through  a  little  ridge  between  75  and  78  feet  above  Lake 
Huron,  about  a  mile  south  of  Collingwood  harbor.  Two  miles  west  of 
Cape  Rich,  worn  fragments  of  bark  and  wood  were  met  with  in  digging 
a  cellar  on  a  terrace  155  feet  above  the  lake  There  are  several  terraces 
of  sand  and  gravel  which  correspond  to  ancient  water  margins  on  the 


ll.v 


318 


Tertiary. 


!#■ 


H 


shores  of  Owen  sound,  at  120,  150  and  200  feet  above  the  present  level 
of  Lake  Huron,  and  some  of  the  higher  terraces  continue  with  great 
regularity  for  several  miles.  Terraces  and  ancient  beaches  are  found 
in  many  places  upon  Lake  Superior.  On  the  north  side  of  the  lake,  the 
ancient  water  margins  are  frequently'  marked  by  the  wearing  of  the 
solid  rock  as  well  as  by  the  loose  materials.  In  a  sandy  ridge  near  the 
western  part  of  Lake  Ontario,  called  Burlington  heights,  at  the  height 
of  70  feet  above  the  lake,  several  bones  of  the  mammoth  were  discov 
cred,  and  in  the  same  excavation,  seven  feet  higher,  the  horns  of  the 
wapiti  (Oervus  canadensis),  and  the  jaw  of  a  beaver  (Castor  Jiber),  were 
also  found 

The  drift  in  Illinois*  is  divided  into — 1st,  blue  plastic  cla}',  with 
small  pebbles,  often  containing  fragments  of  wood,  and  sometimes  the 
trunks  of  trees  of  considerable  size,  which  form  the  lower  division  of 
the  mass;  2d,  buff  and  yellow  clays  and  gravel,  and  irregular  beds  of 
sand,  with  bowlders  of  water-worn  rock  of  various  sizes  interspersed 
through  the  whole;  and  lastly,  reddish-brown  clays,  generally  free 
from  bowlders,  and  forming  the  subsoil  in  those  portions  r»f  the  State 
remote  from  the  streams,  and  where  the  loess  is  wanting.  The 
scratched  and  grooved  surfaces  presented  by  the  underlying  limestones, 
at  many  localities,  and  the  smoothly  worn  and  polished  surfaces  that 
may  be  seen  at  others,  and  the  immense  size  and  weight  of  many  of 
the  transported  bowlders,  which  have  been  carried  for  hundreds  of 
miles  from  the  nearest  outcrop  of  the  metamorphic  beds  to  which  they 
belong,  alike  preclude  the  idea  that  such  results  have  been  produced 
by  the  action  of  water  alone.  Huge  masses  of  moving  ice,  like  the 
icebergs  of  the  present  day,  loaded  with  the  mineral  detritus  of  the  far 
northern  lands,  with  angular  fragments  of  hard,  metamorphic  rock, 
firmly  imbedded  in  the  solid  ice  to  act  as  a  graver  upon  whatever  rock 
surface  thej'  might  come  in  contact,  are  the  only  known  agencies  that 
seem  adequate  to  the  production  of  the  phenomena,  characteristic  o'  '.  ii.- 
drift  deposits  in  this  State. 

There  is  an  area  in  the  southern  part  of  the  State,  and  anotlier  in  the 
northwestern  part  of  the  State,  over  which  the  drift  deposits  do  not 
extend.  The  lead  region  of  Illinois,  Iowa  and  Wisconsin  was  not  in- 
vaded by  the  drift,  and  is,  therefore,  entirel}'  free  from  accumulations  oi 
grav'el,  pebbles  and  bowlders,  that  characterize  drift  areas.  The  topo- 
graphical features  of  the  country  have  been  produced  by  the  quiet  but 


'•■■  Geo.  Sur.  of  Illinois,  vol.  i. 


Mesozoic  and  Cmnozoic  Geology  ard  Palcpontoloffy. 


:]19 


ceaseless  agency  of  water,  not  sweeping  over  the  surface  iu  the  might}' 
currents  of  the  diluvial  epoch,  bearing  the  detritus  of  northern  crys- 
talline rocks,  and  grinding  down  and  bearing  away  the  softer  strata, 
but  falling  as  rain,  percolating  througa  the  calcareous  and  inagnesian 
deposits,  and  gradually  carrying  them  off  in  solution,  leaving  the  in- 
soluble portion  behind,  in  the  form  in  which  we  now  see  it  covering 
the  solid  rock,  as  an  intimate  mixture  of  the  finest  argillaceous  and 
silicious  particles. 

The  trunks  a^  .1  branches  of  coniferous  trees,  belonging,  apparently', 
to  existing  species,  are  quite  common  in  the  blue  clays  at  the  base  of 
the  drift  ;  and  in  the  brown  clays  above,  the  remains  of  the  mammoth, 
the  mastodon,  and  the  peccary  are  occasionally  met  with.  The  fine 
fragment  of  a  mastodon's  jaw,  with  the  teeth,  found  at  Alton,  was  ob- 
tained from  a  bed  of  drift,  underlying  the  loess  of  the  bluffs,  which,  at 
this  point,  was  about  thirty  feet  thick,  and  remained  in  situ  above  the 
bed  from  which  the  fossils  were  taken.  Stone  axes  and  flint  spear- 
heads are  also  found  in  the  same  horizon,  indicating  that  the  human 
race  was  cotemporar}'  with  the  extinct  mammalia  of  this  period.  The 
bones  and  teeth  of  a  great  number  of  species  are  found  iu  the  crevices 
of  the  rocks  in  the  driftless  area  of  the  lead  region,  where  they  have 
been  washed  from  the  surface,  and  carried  in  some  instances  fifty  or 
sixt}'  feet  before  finding  a  lodgment.  The  most  abundant  among  the 
remains  of  animals  thus  found  are  those  of  the  mastodon,  whose  teeth 
and  bones  have  been  procured  from  a  great  number  of  crevices,  over 
the  whole  area  of  the  lead  region  ;  showing  that  the  species  must  have 
lived  and  flourished  in  immense  numbers,  and  through  a  long  period  of 
time,  since  the  chances  of  the  preservation  of  the  remains  of  any  one 
individual  by  being  washed  into  a  crevice,  must  have  been  exceedingl}' 
small.  The  remains  of  both  living  and  extinct  species  are  found  iu  the 
crevices  in  such  positions,  in  I'eference  to  each  other,  as  to  indicate 
pretty  clearly  that  they  were  living  together.  From  a  crevice,  near  the 
Blue  Mounds,  Prof.  Worthen  collected  the  bones  and  teeth  of  the  masto- 
don, peccary,  buffalo,  and  wolf — the  two  former  extinct,  and  the  two 
latter  supposed  lo  be  identical  with  the  living  species. 

In  1867,  Prof.  C.  A.  White*  found  drift  scratches  upon  limestone  of 
the  Upper  Coal  Measures,  in  Mills  count}-,  Iowa,  near  the  Missouri 
river,  having  a  direction  S.  20°  E.,  and  these  crossed  by  a  finer  set  of 
scratches,  having  a  direction  S.  51°  E.  And  at  an  exposure  of  the 
same  limestone,  one  mile  below  Omaha,  the  capital  of  Nebraska,  imme- 


Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  2d  series,  vol.  xliii. 


320 


Tertiary. 


(liately  upon  the  right  bank  of  the  Missouri  river,  and  onl}'  six  or 
eight  feet  above  the  ordinar}-  stage  of  water,  other  scratches  having  a 
direction  S.  41°  E. 

Prof.  F.  V.  Hayden  found  erratic  bowlders  scattered  over  the  country- 
in  northeastern  Dakota,  of  all  sizes  and  texture,  and  especially  numer- 
ous in  the  valley  of  the  James  river  and  its  tributaries. 

In  1869,  Dr.  p].  Andrews*  said,  that  throughout  Central  Illinois  the 
ancient  Pliocene  soil  still  lies  undisturbed  beneath  the  bowlder  drift. 
This  soil  has  been  met  with  in  excavations  at  so  man)'  independent 
points,  that  it  may,  probably,  be  considered  as  the  usual  floor  on  which 
the  drift  rests.  Two  of  the  best  observations  of  it  were  obtained  at 
Bloomington,  Illinois.  In  sinking  two  coal  shafts,  the  workmen  first 
passed  through  118  feet  of  unmodified  drift  clay,  whose  bowlders  and 
pebbles  were  all  of  northern  origin,  and  often  scratched  by  the  action 
of  ice.  Directly  beneath  this  was  a  bed  of  ancient  soil,  on  which  logs 
of  wood  lay  scattered  confusedly  about,  and  in  which  the  stump  of  a 
tree  still  stood  where  it  grew.  Beneath  the  soil  bed  lay  various  sands, 
gravels,  and  clays,  and  a  second  dirt  bed,  but  no  more  northern  drift. 
The  stump  was  of  coniferous  wood.  All  of  the  original  tirift  is  clearly 
stratified. 

In  1873,  Robert  Bellf  found  the  stiff"  red  clay  of  the  Kaministiquia 
valley,  extending  westward  up  the  valley  of  the  Mattawa  to  the  out- 
let of  Shebandowan  lake,  becoming  apparently  less  abundant  all 
the  wa3%  and  finally  disappearing  on  reaching  the  lake.  Around 
the  shores  of  this  lake,  and  of  nearly  all  the  lakes  passed,  by  wa}'^  of 
Lonely  lake  and  the  English  and  Winnipeg  rivers  to  Lake  of  the 
Woods,  wherever  the  vegetation  is  burnt  oflT,  the  rocky  mammillated 
hills  are  seen  to  be  strewn  with  rounded  and  angular  bowlders,  from 
the  size  of  a  man's  head  to  a  diameter  of  30  to  40  feet.  Many  of  these 
are  perched  in  positions  from  which  they  look  as  if  the)"^  might  be 
easily  rolled  into  the  water  below.  The  stria;  on  the  surface  of  the 
rocks  occur  almost  everywhere,  and  are  very  general  in  their  course 
from  south  to  southwest. 

In  1875,  Prof.  George  M.  Dawson  J  found  the  striae  on  the  rocks  at 
Lake  of  the  Woods  varying  in  their  course  from  S.  20°  E.  to  S.  87°  W. 
Bowlders  and  traveled  materials  are  spread  over  the  country  in  this 
vicinity,  and  especially  on  the  south  side  of  the  islands. 


•■'  Am.  Jour.  Sci.  and  Arts,  2d  ser.,  vol.  xlviii. 
•\-  Geo.  Sur.  of  Canada. 
t  Rep.  Geo.,  49th  Parallel. 


Mesozoic  and  Crvnozoic  Geoloyy  and  Pnheoutology.  321 


The  drift  deposits  cover  the  second  prairie  plateau  west  of  the  Red 
river  and  Turtle  mountain,  and  the  eastern  front  of  Pembina  escarp- 
meni  is  distinctly  terraced  and  the  summit  of  the  plateau  thickly  cov- 
ered with  drift.  The  first  terrace  is  about  50  feet  above  the  general 
prairie  level,  the  second  about  260  feet,  and  the  third  about  iJBO  feet. 

One  hundred  and  twenty  miles  west  of  Turtle  mountain,  the  second 
prairie  plateau  comes  to  an  end  against  the  foot  of  the  great  belt  of 
drift  deposits,  known  as  the  Missouri  Coteau,  a  tumultuously  hilly 
countr\',  based  on  a  great  thickness  of  drift.  The  Missouri  Coteau  is 
a  mass  of  debris  and  traveled  blocks,  with  an  average  breadth  of  30 
to  40  miles,  extending  diagonally  across  the  central  region  of  the  con- 
tinent with  a  length  of  800  miles.  It  appears  to  have  been  the  work 
of  sea-borne  icebergs,  and  not  glacier  ice  as  such. 

In  1870,  Mr.  Robert  Bell*  said,  that  in  the  prairie  regions  of  the 
northwest  territor\^,  loose  deposits  of  Post-Tertiary  age  cover  the  sur- 
face of  the  country  almost  universally,  and  they  are  usually  of  con- 
siderable depth.  There  are  immense  areas  having  the  same  general 
elevation,  or  without  very  great  or  sudden  changes  of  level,  yet,  with 
the  exception  of  the  first  prairie  steppe,  there  is  a  remarkable  scarcity, 
or  perhaps  absence,  of  extensive  stratified  deposits  of  sands  and  clays, 
such  as  occur  in  the  provinces  of  Ontario  and  Quebec.  The  bulk  of 
the  superficial  deposits  is  of  the  nature  of  bowlder-clay  or  unmodified 
drift,  which  is  spread  alike  over  the  older  rocks  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest  levels.  The  materials  of  the  drift  appear  to  be  made  up  of 
the  debris  of  the  rocks  existing  in  situ,  immediately  beneath  or  a  short 
distance  to  the  northeastward,  together  with  a  greater  or  less  propor- 
tion derived  from  those  lying  further  off  in  the  same  direction.  As  a 
rule,  the  softer  or  more  claye}'  part  has  come  from  the  underlying 
strata,  while  the  harder  pebbles  and  bowlders  are  the  furthest  trans- 
ported; still,  in  washing  out  the  finer  ingredients,  it  is  always  fouml 
that  much  of  the  incorporated  sand  and  gravel  is  of  foreign  origin. 
The  nature  of  the  transported  bowlders  and  pebbles  varies  in  diflTerent 
localities,  but  more  than  half  of  its  bulk,  on  an  average,  consists  of 
local  material.  On  the  first  and  second  prairie  steppes  the  most  abun- 
dant constituent  of  the  transported  portion  is  Laurentiaii  gneiss,  while 
the  remainder  is  made  up  of  light-colored  unfossiliferous  limestones, 
supposed  to  be  Silurian  and  Devonian,  together  with  a  proportion  of 
Huronian  schists,  which  varies  in  different  localities.  On  the  third 
steppe,  however,  smooth  pebbles  of  finely  granular  quartzite  predomi- 


Gco.  Sur.  of  Canada,  for  ]8T4-7'i. 


•J  «^^ 


Tertiary. 


■,\  J " 


H 


'••\ 


ill 


nate.  These  are  mostly  white,  but  some  are  gray,  brown,  pink,  and 
red,  the  latter  often  passing  into  banded  compact  sandstone.  There 
ai'e  also  pebbles  of  dark,  fine-grained  diorite,  light-colored  limestone, 
and  some  of  dark  fine-grained  mica  s  hist,  and  of  white  ti'anshicent 
quartz,  the  last  mentioned  being  often  rough  surfaced.  ^Ir.  George 
M.  Dawson  thinks  this  quartzite  drift  has  come  eastward  from  the  foot- 
hills of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  where  in  the  neigliborhood  of  the  line 
(latitude  49°)  he  found  un fossil ifcrous  rocks  in  situ,  some  of  which 
resemble  certain  varieties  of  these  quartzite  pebbles,  but  Rev.  Pere 
Petitot  collected  white  sacclmrino  quartzite  fi'om  the  INIcKenzie  river 
exactly  like  that  of  the  white  pebbles  of  the  third  steppe. 

While  the  composition  of  the  bowlder  clay  of  the  first  and  second 
l)rairie  steppes,  and  also,  to  some  extent,  that  of  the  third  steppe,  as 
well  as  the  course  of  the  strise  on  the  hard  rocks  on  the  cast  side  of 
the  prairies,  would  indicate  that  the  drift  had  been  mainly  from  the 
northeastward,  the  above  evidence  shows  that  a  large  proportion  of 
the  transported  material  on  the  highest  levels  has  come  from  the  north, 
or  west.  A  part  of  what  is  now  found  in  some  localities  may  have 
been  moved  first  in  one  direction  and  afterward  in  another,  whilst  the 
bulk  of  the  older  drift,  including,  perhaps,  even  that  on  the  third 
steppe,  has  jirobably  come  from  points  between  north  and  east.  The 
quartzite  pebbles  of  the  third  steppe  are  all  thoroughly  water-worn, 
and  appear  to  be  most  abundant  on  and  near  the  surface.  The  upper 
200  feet,  or  thereabouts,  of  the  south  bank  of  the  South  Saskatche- 
wan, at  the  Red  Ochre  Hills,  consists  of  cla3^ey  drift,  in  which  bowl- 
ders of  Laurentian  gneiss  occur,  while  the  surfaces  of  these  hills  are 
strewn  with  smooth  quartzite  gravel  and  cobblestones.  At  the  dis- 
tance of  150  miles  to  the  southeastward,  between  the  Dirt  Hills  and 
the  Woody  Mountain,  the  proportion  of  quartzite  gravel  on  the  third 
steppe  has  diminished  considerabh',  and  Laurentian  bowlders  have  be- 
come very  numerous  on  the  surface. 

Between  Fort  Garry  and  Fort  EUIce,  Huronian  bowlders  and  pebbles 
are  scarce,  they  are,  however,  abundant  in  the  drift  in  the  banks  of 
the  Assineboine  for  some  miles  above  and  below  the  junction  of  the 
Shell  river,  and  in  the  banks  of  the  Calling  river  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Fishing  Lakes.  They  are  noticeable  on  the  surface  all  the  way 
from  these  lakes  to  the  Touchwood  Hills.  Surface  bowlders  are  ex- 
tremely abundant  on  the  southern  and  western  sides  of  the  gravelly 
and  sandy  tract  southwest  of  Fort  EUico,  about  the  head  waters  of  the 
Calling  river,  and  in  many  places  on   the  high  ground  of  the  third 


Mesoznic  and  Cifnozoic  Geolof/y  and  Palctont.ology. 


32;i 


steppe,  between  the  Dirt  Hills  and  the  Woody  Mountains.  By  far  the 
greater  number  of  the  bowlders  in  all  these  localities  consists  of 
Laurentian  gneiss,  man}'  of  them  are  angular,  although  the  majority 
arc  pretty  well  rounded.  In  each  of  the  above  districts,  the  bowlders 
are  so  numerous,  over  considerable  areas,  that  a  man  might  walk  upon 
them  in  an}^  direction  without  touching  the  ground. 

In  going  from  the  northwest  angle  of  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  toward 
Fort  Garr}-,  the  road  for  long  distances,  runs  upon  low  ridges  of  lime- 
stone-gravel between  swamps,  until  reaching  the  drier  ground  between 
the  White  Month  river  and  Oak  Point,  and  in  this  interval,  bowlders 
and  pebbles  of  light-colored  limestone  are  very  common.  They  are 
also  strewn  abundantly  on  the  shores  around  the  southwestern  part  of 
Lake  of  the  Woods.  In  the  northern  part  of  Lake  of  the  Woods,  and 
in  the  region  of  the  Winnipeg  and  English  rivers,  limestone  fragments 
are  extremely  rare,  so  that  their  sudden  appearance,  in  such  abundance, 
to  the  West  and  South  of  the  northwest  angle,  would  appear  to  indi- 
cate the  occurrence  of  this  rock  in  situ  in  the  immecriate  neighborhood. 

The  magnetic  bearings  of  the  striaj  in  different  parts  of  the  country 
drained  by  the  Winnipeg  river,  are  as   follows: 

Around  Wesaxino  lake,  S.  10°  to  20°W.;  two  miles  South  of 
Sturgeon  lake  S.  40°  W. ;  southeast  shore  of  Sturgeon  lake  seven  miles 
from  southwestern  extramity  S.  20°  W.,  and  six  and  a  half  miles  from 
southwestern  extremity,  S.  15°  W.;  North  end  of  Hut  lake,  S.  25°  W.; 
East  end  Kitchi-Sagi  or  Big-Inlet  lake,  S.  15°  W. ;  inlet  of  Jarvis  lake, 
S.  10°  W. ;  Minnietakie  Falls,  S.  35°  W. ;  island  on  Minnietaka  lake, 
four  miles  southwest  of  Abram's  chute,  S.  45°  W. ;  Abram's  chute,  at 
outlet  of  Minnietaka  lake,  S.  25°  W. ;  Pelican  falls,  S.  45°  W. ;  Stormy 
Point,  on  North  side  of  Lonely  lake,  24  miles  from  its  outlet,  S.  60° 
W. ;  Shanty  Narrows  on  Lonely  lake,  15  miles  from  outlet,  West; 
outlet  of  Lonely  lake,  S.  75°  W. ;  island  in  Maynard's  lake,  English 
river,  S.  20°  W. ;  narrows  between  Tide  lake  and  Ball's  lake,  English 
river,  S.  70°  W.;  outlet  of  Indian  lake,  English  river,  S.  30°  W.,  inlet 
of  Lonnt's  lake,  English  river,  S.  40°  W. ;  outlet  of  Lount's  lake,  S. 
45°  W.;  entrance  to  South  arm  of  Separation  lake,  English  river,  S. 
50*^  W. ;  Winnipeg  river,  at  entrance  to  Sand}^  ba}',  S.  45°  W.;  north- 
west shore  of  Lake  of  ♦^he  Woods,  seven  miles  from  Rat  Portage,  S.  25° 
W. ;  Maniton  Minis,  15  miles  southwest  of  Rat  Portage,  S.  20°  to  30° 
W. ;  Hone  Point,  18  miles  southwest  of  Rat  Portage,  S.  45°  W. ;  Dead 
Oaks  Point,  20  miles  southwest  of  Rat  Portage,  S.  40°  \\\\  and  island 
in  Lake  of  the  Woods,  25  miles  southeast  of  entrance  to  northwest 
angle,  S.  25°  W. 


■l>!:i; 


•.\u 


Tertiary. 


H; 


In  tlio  thiee  prairie  steppes  tliere  is  a  marked  difference  in  tlie  gen- 
eral aspect  of  the  surface  of  the  country,  and  in  the  character  of  the 
river  valleys.  On  the  first  steppe,  the  surface  's  usually  level,  or  un- 
dulating in  long  gentle  sweeps,  and  the  beds  of  the  principal  streams 
do  not,  probably,  average  more  than  30  feet  below  the  level  of  the  sur- 
rounding country.  On  the  second  steppe  the  surface  is  rolling,  and 
the  river  valleys  are  usually  from  150  to  200  feet  in  depth,  while  on 
the  third,  the  hills  are  on  a  larger  scale,  and  either  closely  crowded 
together,  or  they  rise  here  and  there  to  considerable  heights  overlook- 
ing less  rugged  tracts.  The  principal  river-valleys  on  this  steppe  are 
from  200  to  500  feet  deep.  The  "  coulees,"  as  they  are  termed,  form 
a  curious  feature  of  the  third  prairie  steppe.  These  are  valleys,  or 
ravines,  with  steep  sides,  often  one  hundr^jd  feet  or  more  in  depth,  which 
terminate  or  close  in,  rather  abruptly,  often  at  both  ends,  forming  a 
long  trough-like  depression;  or  one  of  the  extremities  of  the  coulee 
may  open  into  the  valley  of  a  regular  water-course.  The  coulees  some- 
times run  for  miles,  and  are  either  quite  dry  or  hold  ponds  of  bitter 
water,  which  evaporate  in  the  summer,  and  leave  thin  incrustations  of 
snow-white  alkaline  salts. 

The  average  depth  of  the  river-valleys  of  the  first  and  second  prai- 
rie steppes  is  not  affected  by  the  general  descent  of  the  country  through 
which  they  run.  From  the  Little  Boggy  creek  to  i/he  Arrow  river,  the 
Assineboine  must  fall  400  or  500  feet,  yet  the  banks  ot*  the  valley 
maintain  the  same  general  height  and  the  same  character  throughout 
the  whole  distance.  Similarly,  the  fall  in  the  Calling  river,  from  the 
8and-Hills  lake  to  its  junction  with  the  Assineboine,  can  not  be  far 
from  500  feet,  and  still  its  valley-banks  have  the  same  average  height 
throughout.  The  fall  in  the  Red  river,  from  Moorehead  to  Fort  Garry, 
is  upward  of  200  feet;  but  in  the  whole  of  the  distance,  the  banks  of 
the  river  have  a  nearly  uniform  height  of  20  to  30  feet. 

The  great  valleys  of  the  third  steppe  cut  entirely  through  the  drift 
and  far  down  into  the  underlying  Tertiary  and  Cretaceous  rocks;  those 
of  the  second  steppe  appear  to  correspond,  in  a  general  way,  with  the 
depth  of  the  drift,  while  on  the  lowest  steppe,  the  streams  have  merely 
cut  through  the  modified  deposits  resting  upon  the  drift,  which  latter 
is  occasionally  exposed  at  low  water  at  the  foot  of  the  banks,  or  in  the 
bed  of  the  stream  at  swift  places  and  rapids.  The  stratified  claj',  silt, 
sand,  and  gravel  of  the  Red  river  and  the  lower  Assineboine,  vary  in 
thickness  from  almost  nothing  to  80  or  90  feet,  and  a  variable  thick- 
ness of  bowlder  clay  is  interposed  between  these  deposits  and  the  older 


Menozoic  and  CUnnozoic  Geology  and  Palceonfoloyy.  325 


far 


t-ry, 


of 


rift 
lose 
I  the 

rely 
Ittei* 
Ithe 
Isilt, 
in 

ick- 

Ider 


rocks*,  which  lie  beneath  tlieni  all.  At  one  place,  in  sinkin<?  a  well, 
afl3r  paasinfi;  through  the  surface  deposits,  blue  clay  was  penetiatcil 
70  feet  in  thickuess,  followed  by  18  feet  of  sand,  gravel,  and  clay,  be- 
low which  a  light-colored  limestone  was  reached.  There  is  ample  prooi 
that  the  Winnipeg  basin  has  been  filled  with  water  to  the  foot  of  the 
second  pr;nrie  steppe,  in  recent  geological  times.  In  digging  wells  in 
the  cit}'  of  Winnipeg,  wood  bark  and  leaves  are  sometimes  met  with, 
and  fresh-wator  shells  occur  in  the  sand  deposits  between  the  south 
end  of  Lake  Manitoba  and  the  Assineboine  river,  about  50  feet  above 
the  former.  The  level  of  Lake  AVinnipeg  above  the  sea  is  710  feet, 
St.  Martin's  lake  737  feet.  Lake  Manitoba  752  feet,  Lake  Winnipegosis 
and  Cedar  lake  770  feet,  and  Lake  of  the  Woods  1,042  feet. 

The  drift  striaj*  in  the  eastern  part  of  Wisconsin  are  exceedingly 
variable.  Between  the  Kettle  range  and  Lake  Michigan,  their  course 
is  from  S.  4^  W.  to  S.  116°  W.  Between  the  Kettle  range  and  the 
Green  Bay  and  Rock  River  vallej'^,  their  course  is  from  S.  12°  W.  to 
S.  59°  E.  In  the  trougli  of  the  Green  Bay  and  Rock  River  valle^', 
their  course  is  from  S.  41°  W.  to  S.  7°  E.  And  on  the  west  slope  ot 
the  Green  Bay  and  Rock  River  valley,  from  S.  94°  W.  to  S.  24°  W. 
The  diagram  used  to  illustrate  the  course  of  these  striae,  resembles  the 
flowing  vanes  of  an  ostrich  feather,  with  the  shaft  pointing  to  the 
northeast. 

The  drift  deposits  are  separated  in  ascending  order,  into:  1st — Bowl- 
der clay;  2d — Beach  formation:  3d — Lower  red  clay;  4th — A  beach 
formation;  5th — Upper  red  clay;  6th — Beach  formations.  The  eleva- 
tion of  the  beach  ridge  which  marks  the  western  limit  of  these  de- 
posits above  Lake  Michigan,  near  the  Illinois  line,  is  55  feet;  farther 
north,  from  40  to  80  feet.  North  of  Milwaukee  there  is  a  well  defined 
terrace,  nearly  parallel  to  the  lake  shore,  from  50  to  100  feet  high.  In 
the  vicinit}'  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  the  terrace  is  replaced  by  a  beach  ridge 
of  rather  fine  yellow  sand.  Along  Green  Bay,  between  Egg  Harbor 
and  the  mouth  of  Sturgeon  Bay,  terraces  of  rock  sustain  a  relation  to 
the  present  shore  similar  to  the  terraces  farther  south.  These  rise,  in 
some  cases,  almost  vertically,  to  a  heiglit  of  more  than  100  feet.  The 
distance  between  them  and  the  bay  varies  from  a  few  rods  to  half  a 
mile  or  more,  and  the  interval  is  strewn  with  water-worn  fragments  of 
rock  and  occasional  slight  beach  ridges. 

In  Central  Wisconsin,  the  courses  of  the  striae  are  not  less  variable, 
thougli  but  few  have  been  observed.     In  Dane  count}',  they  vary  from 


Geo.  of  Wisconsin,  vol.  ii,  1877. 


.•520 


Tei'titiry. 


M 


ffi 


i 


S.  35"  E.  to  S.  8P  VV.  In  Columbia  county,  from  W.  to  S.  8')°  W., 
jiml  S.  47°  W.  In  Sauk  county,  from  S.  50°  W.  to  S.  85°  W.;  and  in 
Green  Lake,  S.  G8°  W. 

In  southwestern  Wisconsin,  there  is  a  driftless  region  of  more  than 
12,000  square  miles,  or  about  one-fourtli  the  entire  area  of  the  State. 
Drift  striju  anil  drift  materials  are  absolutely  wanting.  The  topogra- 
phy of  the  country'  shows  that  it  was  never  invaded  by  the  drift, 
pjxcept  in  ihc  level  country  of  Adams,  Juneau,  and  eastern  Jackson 
counties,  it  is  everywhere  a  region  of  narrow,  ramifying  valleys,  and 
narrow,  steep-sided,  dividing  ridges,  whose  directions  are  toward  every 
point  of  the  compass,  and  whose  perfectly  coinciding  horizontal  strata 
prove  conclusively  tlieir  subairial  erosion.  The  ravines  are  all  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  relative  sizes  of  the  streams  in  them. 

The  altitude  of  the  country  seems  to  have  performed  no  part  in  tiie 
causes  which  kept  the  drift  from  this  extensive  tract  of  country,  for 
north  of  the  head  of  sugar  river,  the  limit  crosses  high  ground,  and  the 
altitudes  east  of  the  limit  are  as  great  as  those  to  the  west ;  Sauk 
prairie  is  crossed  on  a  level.  Where  the  quartzite  range  north  of  Sauk 
in'airie  is  crossed  b}'  the  limit,  it  is  higher  (850  feet  above  Lake  Michi- 
gan), than  any  part  of  the  driftless  area,  except  the  Blue  Mounds, 
whilst  east  a  few  miles,  drift  is  found  at  900  feet  in  altitude.  From 
the  limit  near  the  east  line  of  Adams  county,  the  country,  for  40  miles 
to  the  west,  is  from  100  to  200  feet  lower.  From  the  northwest  part  of 
Adams  county,  to  the  Wisconsin  river,  the  limit  is  in  a  level  country'  ; 
whilst  from  the  Wisconsin  westward  the  country'  north  of  it  is  every- 
where much  higher  than  that  to  the  south,  the  rise  northward  continu- 
ing to  within  30  miles  of  Lake  Superior.  It  thus  appeivrs  that  the 
driftless  area  is  in  a  large  part  lower  than  the  surrounding  drift- 
covered  countrjy.  Moreover,  there  is  a  scantiness  of  the  dvift  from  25 
to  75  miles  north  of  the  driftless  area. 

Roland  D.  Irving*  said,  the  lauustrine  clays  extend  inland  from 
Lakes  Michigan  and  Superior  for  many  miles,  and  reach  elevations  of 
several  hundred  feet  above  the  lake.s.  They  nre  stratified  beds  of  loose 
material,  chiefly  marly  clays,  with  more  or  less  sand,  some  gravel,  and 
a  few  bowlders.  They  were  deposited,  evidently,  when  the  lakes  were 
greatly  expanded  beyond  their  present  limits.  In  the  Central  Wiscon- 
sin district,  the  lacustrine  clays  have  only  a  small  development,  most 
of  the  district  being  either  too  high  to  have  been  i  cached  by  the  lake 
depositions,  or  else  lying  behind  the  dividing  ridges.     The  ea!stern 


*  Geo.  of  Wisconsin,  vol.  ii. 


Menozoic  and  Canozoic  Oeoloyy  and  Paloionfoloyi/.  ',\21 


towns  of  Wiiusliiiia  comity,  howRvoi*,  are  uinU'ilaid  by  :i  coiisidcrnblo 
thicknoHs  of  red  clay  belonging  lo  this  formation.  Tlu;  >*iirfacc  cl(>va- 
tion  of  the  country  here  is  100  to  200  feet  al)ov(!  I^iike  ."Miciiigan,  and 
the  clays  SO  to  100  feet  and  over  in  depth,  as  sliown  by  luinierons  Mitc- 
sian  well  l)orings  that  yield  a  flow  of  water  which  is  obtained  fi-oni 
soanis  of  gravel  at  different  liorixous  in  the  cla}'.  The  clay  of  eastern 
Waushara  county  is  i)art  of  a  large  clay  area  that  extends  up  the 
Green  IJay  valley  from  Lake  Michigan,  and  it  is  quite  significant,  that 
Prof.  Irving's  map  of  this  lake  deposit  shows  that  it  extends  within 
about  twenty  miles  of  the  northeastern  part  of  the  ilriftless  area  of 
Wisconsin. 

Afterward*  he  said  the  lacustrine  clays  underlie  all  of  the  lower 
levels  bordering  Lake  Superior,  above  which  they  rise  to  altitudes  of 
between  uOO  and  (500  feet.  This  carries  them  well  up  the  front  slope 
of  tlie  Copper  range,  and  high,  also,  on  the  flanks  of  the  liayfleld  high- 
land. On  the  Wisconsin  Central,  these  clays  reach  to  an  altitude  of 
500  feet,  and  are  finally  left,  on  ascending  the  railroad  line  from  Lake 
Superior,  near  where  Bad  river  is  first  struck. 

The  clay  varies  largely  in  amount  of  sandy  admixture.  There  is 
commonly  some  sand  included,  though,  at  times,  it  seems  almost  wholly 
absent,  and  at  others  to  make  up  the  bulk  of  the  formation.  The  clayey 
matter  is  always  of  a  red  color,  and  always  contains  a  considerable 
proportion  of  lime  carbonate.  The  stratification  is  not  always  evident, 
but  on  the  shore  bluflfs  of  the  Apostle  islands,  it  may  be  seen  in  the 
darker  color  of  the  moist  sandy  layers  as  compared  with  the  lighter 
sun-dried  clay.  In  many  places,  numerous  small  bowlders,  chiefly  of 
some  dark  greenstone-like  rock,  are  to  be  seen  embedded  in  the  cla}-, 
and  pebbles  of  the  same,  and  other  crystalline  rocks  are  abundant. 
On  the  shores  of  some  of  the  Apostle  islands,  and  in  places  along  the 
mainland  coast,  dark-colored  bowlders  of  large  size,  presumably  washed 
out  from  the  clay,  are  very  abundant.  The  entire  thickness  of  these 
clays  can  not  be  less  than  from  400  to  GOO  feet,  about  100  feet  being 
the  greatest  thickness  seen  in  any  one  section. 

Mr.  E.  T.  Sweet  found  a  section  of  the  lacustrine  sands  and  clays, 
with  gravel  and  bowlders,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  St.  Louis  river, 
about  one  quarter  of  a  mile  from  Greeley  station,  202  feet  in  thickness. 
In  the  vicinity  of  Fon  du  Lac,  and  southeast  of  Superior  Cit}^,  along  the 
old  St.  Paul  military  road,  he  found  lake  terraces  at  15,  :55,  80  and  120 
feet  above  the  present  level  of  the  lake,  and  an  indistinct  one  at  the 

*  Geo.  of  Wisconsin,  vol.  iii. 


:J28 


Tertiary. 


I 


hoi<;lil  of  ;!0(»  feet.  Aloii.ij[  tlu!  IJriile  riviM',  in  tlic  vicinity  of  the  rrioutli 
nt  tiiL'  Nobaj^iuimin,  whert;  tiio  rlvor  is  .'JOO  feet  jibovo  Lak«'  Siiporioi* 
river  terraeosi  jire  fouiul  IJO,  80,  jinil  li)()  feet  above  tlio  I'iver.  Fioin 
the  top  of  the  liighest  terrace,  or  level  of  the  Hurroiiiidiiig  country,  to 
the  corrcMiJonding  top  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley,  the  distance 
is  about  a  mile, 

'J'hc  lake  terraces  and  lak»!  deposits  of  sand  and  clay  at  these  hei«>hts 
in  Wisconsin,  show  that  I^ak»;  Superior  has  stood  at  a  height  sulllcient 
to  have  overflowed  the  highest  lands  in  any  of  the  States  south  of  it. 
The  driftloss  region  in  the  western  half  of  the  State,  is  jdikc  conclusive 
against  any  of  the  drift  phenomena  in  the  eastern  part,  having  been 
the  result  of  glacial  action  of  anj'  kind,  and  they  both  unite  In  testify- 
ing against  a  continental  ice  sheet,  or  glacial  period. 

In  Dakota  county,  Minnesota,  there  occurs  an  outlier  of  the  St.  Pe- 
ter's sandstone,  known  as  ''Lone  Rock,"  owing  to  its  standing  in  a 
prairie,  and  forming  a  conspicuous  object  for  many  miles  in  all  direc- 
tions. Its  summit  is  about  one  hundred  feet  higher  than  the  sur- 
rounding country,  and  from  this  point  a  number  of  outliers  and  pin- 
nacled rocks  of  the  same  sandstone  may  be  seen.  One  of  these  is 
called  "Chimney  Rock,"  from  its  fancied  resemblance  to  a  chimney; 
and  another,  standing  seventy  feet  high  above  the  surn  iding  coun- 
try, is  known  as  "  Castle  Rock,"  the  upper  twenty  feet  of  h  is  now  so 
slender  that  but  few  centuries  will  pass  before  it  totters  auu  falls,  under 
the  sve.vring  effects  of  subarial  denudation.  These  sandstone  outliers 
aro  monuments  attesting  the  erosion  which  has  taken  place  since  Silu- 
rian times,  and  yet,  in  the  valle3's  of  this  county,  the  drift  prevails  and 
bowlders  abound.  In  Wabasha  county,  we  have  the  "Twin  Mounds," 
and  in  Olmstead  county,  the  "Sugar  Loaf  jNIound"  and  the  "Lone 
Mound,"  and  numerous  isolated  bluffs,  attesting  the  erosion  for  the 
same  period.  In  Fillmore  count}',  tlie  Trenton  Group  forms  precipit- 
ous bluffs.  It  rises  perpendicularly  from  the  short  talus  at  the  base, 
which  adjoins  the  creek,  forming  canons,  which  widen  as  we  descend 
the  streams,  and  which,  like  the  monuments  of  other  counties,  attest 
the  erosion  through  long  periods  of  time.  The  weathering  and  erosion 
have  left  manj'  scenes  in  the  bluffs  of  wild  and  picturesque  beauty,  as 
at  Weisbeck's  dam,  in  Spring  valley,  that,  standing  alone,  or  consid- 
ered in  their  relations  to  each  other,  as  their  bearing  is  found  in  all 
directions  of  the  compass,  are  convincing  proofs  of  the  non-existence 
of  the  glacial  epoch.  But  the  strongest  proof,  it  seems,  that  one  could 
wish  against  the  glacial  speculation,  may  be  seen  in  two  lonely  towers, 


Meno^oic  'Dul  CcEHozofc  Cienlofjii  and  PdhvontoUHjij,  :120 


in  tlio  valley  of  tlio  soiitli  brfincli  of  Root  river,  in  this  coiiiity,  known 
tiH  tlio  "  Ka^li!  Roc'lvS."  The  vnllcy  is  one  of  (lemnlMlion,  by  tlu'  onli- 
nnry  subu'riai  forces,  and  it  lias  been  excavated  out  of  tiie  Trenton 
Group;  and  yet,  two  lone  towers,  risin<>;  as  liijjfli  as  the  rocky  walls  of 
the  valley,  are  standing  to  say  that  no  glacial  slioet  ever  tnoved  in  this 
vall(>y. 

IndecMl,  no  one  havinj;  any  knowledge  of  geology,  has  fonnd  any  evi- 
dence of  glacial  action  in  the  Mississipjii  valley,  (tr  in  the  slreanis  that 
flow  into  it  from  Minnesota;  bnt,  on  the  contrary,  every  geological  fact 
bearing  upon  the  snbject  is  so  strongly  against  it,  that  we  nidu'sita- 
tingly  conclude  that  no  glacier,  great  or  small,  ever  entered  it;  and  as 
to  the  hypothetical  continental  glacial  sheet  In  this  valley,  it  certainly 
suggests  i)h3'sical  impossibilities.  Tito  valley  of  the  Mississippi  is 
one  of  ei'osion.  At  Minisca,  the  hills  are  o^o  feet  high.  'V\\v.  slo[)(>s 
arc  such  as  are  made  by  ordinary  forces,  without  the  intervention  of 
anything  extraordinary.  The  hardcsr  layers  of  rock  statid  out  in  bold 
clifl's  on  the  sides  of  the  valley,  while  the  softer  layers  form  slopes  b(>- 
tween  the  harder  layers,  marking  the  disintegration  and  denudation  as 
it  takes  place  under  atmospheric  inlluences.  Streams  enter  the  valley 
at  right  angles,  and  these  are  fed  by  streams  flowing  into  them  from 
the  north  and  from  the  south  in  valleys  of  corresponding  de[)th,  and 
protected  by  sides  of  similar  slopes  and  cliffs,  and  even  more  rugged 
bluffs;  for,  as  we  recede  westerly  from  the  Mississippi  river  in  South- 
ern Minnesota,  higher  rocks  come  into  view,  until  the  valleys  are  exca- 
vated in  the  limestones  of  the  Trenton  Group,  instead  of  the  softer 
raf^gnesian  limestones  that  abut  upon  the  Mississippi  valley.  If  a 
sheet  of  ice  were  to  fill  these  valle3's  above  the  top  of  the  dividing 
ridges,  we  may  fairly  conclude  that  it  would  be  held  so  firmly  that  it 
could  move  in  no  direction;  but  if  it  could  move  either  north  or  south- 
or  east  or  west,  the  sharp  escarpments  of  magnesian  limestone,  the 
rugged  bluffs  of  the  Trenton  limestone,  the  bold  outliers  in  the  widened 
valleys,  and  the  pinnacled  towers  on  the  level  prairies  forming  the 
divides  between  the  streams,  would  be  ground  down,  smoothed  off,  or 
entirely  torn  away. 

A  trip  up  the  Missiosippi  river,  from  Dubuque,  Iowa,  to  St.  Paul, 
Minnesota,  or  across  tlfe  country  at  La  Crosse,  Minisca,  or  Lake 
Pepin,  will  bring  to  the  view  of  the  observer  the  incontestible  evi- 
dences against  the  existence  of  a  continenlsal  glacier,  in  times  so 
recent  as  the  Pliocene  or  Post-pliocene.  In  the  absence  of  the 
opportunit}'  of  taking  the  trip,  turn  to  Owen's  Geological   Survey 


330 


Tertiary. 


^^!li: 


I 


of  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota,  and  look  at  the  "Natural 
Section  of  Hills,  Upper  IMississippi;"  "  Cliff  of  Lower  Magnesian 
Limestone,  Plum  Creek;"  "Alterations  of  Magnesian  Limestone  and 
Sandstone,  Kickapoo;"  "Lagrange  Mountain;"  "Castellated  appear- 
ance of  Lower  Magnesian  Limestone,  Upper  Iowa;"  "Lower  Mag- 
nesian Limestone,  Upper  Iowa;"  "Cliffs  of  Lower  Magnesian  Lime- 
stone, Upper  Iowa  River;"  "Outlier  of  Sandstone,  Kinnikiniek;" 
"Outcrop  of  Upper  Magnesian  Limestone  and  Shell  Beds,  Turkey 
River,"  and  you  will  be  enabled  to  form  some  idea  of  the  bluffs,  cliffs, 
castellated  rocks,  and  pinnacled  outliers,  that  are  so  utterly  inconsistent 
with  the  glacial  hj'pothesis. 

Such  scenes  are  also  presented  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin,  both  within 
what  is  universall}'  conceded  to  be  the  driftless  area  and  without  it- 
Two  of  these  curious  isolated  eminences  are  situated  in  Dark  Hollow, 
north  of  Wingville,  on  the  head  waters  of  the  Blue  river,  near  the 
junction  of  Badger  Hollow,  and  composed  of  the  Upper  Sandstone,  as 
illustrated  in  Hall's  Geological  Survej'.  Another  called  the  "Stard 
Rock,"  in  the  Dells  of  the  Wisconsin,  forms  the  frontispiece  to  Vol.  ii. 
of  Chamberlin's  Surve3\  But  Prof.  R.  D.  Irving  informs  us  that  a 
remarkable  feature  of  ail  of  the  paloeozoic  portion  of  central  Wisconsin? 
is  the  occurrence  of  isolated  ridges  and  2^Q<iks,  rising  from  100  to  300 
feet  abruptl}',  and  often  precipitously  from  the  low  ground  around 
them,  and  composed  of  horizontally  stratified  sandstone,  or  of  sand- 
stone capped  with  limestone.  Such  outlying  bluffs  lie  all  along  the 
face  of  the  high  limestone  country  of  Columbia  and  Dane  counties, 
and  are,  genevall}',  there  capped  by  the  same  limestone  that  forms  the 
elevated  land,  of  which  tho\-  are  themselves  fragments,  others,  again 
and  these  a''e  nearly  all  entirely  of  sandstone,  occur  scattered  wldel}' 
over  the  central  plain  of  Adams  and  Juneau  counties,  often  covering 
but  a  small  area,  and  showing  bare  rocks  from  the  base  to  the  summit, 
which  not  infreriuentlj'  are  worn  into  jagged  pinnacles  and  towers.  He 
says  the  driftless  area  occupies  12,000  square  miles  (but  the  map  indi- 
cates about  1.3,000  square  miles)  of  the  southwestern  part  of  Wisconsin, 
or  nearly  one  fourth  the  entire  area  of  the  State  ?nd  that  over  this  area 
the  drift  is  not  merely'  insignificant,  but  absolutely  wanting.  The  line 
of  separation  of  the  driftless  from  the  drift  area,  is  thus  traced: 

Entering  the  State  from  the  south,  on  the  southern  line  of  Greene 
county,  the  drift  limit  traverses  this  county  centrally  from  south  to 
north,  and  continues  northward  through  western  Dane  and  central 
then   curving  eastward  across  the  southern  end  of  Adams,  it 


Mesozoic  and  Cmnozoic  Geology  and  Pahvontology.  331 


follows  along  the  eastern  line  of  that  county,  passes  into  Portage, 
curves  westward,  and  crossing  the  Wisconsin  river  again,  continues  in 
a  nearly  westward  direction  across  Wood,  Clark,  Jackson,  Trempea- 
leau, and  Buffalo  counties,  to  about  the  foot  of  Lake  Pepin,  on  the 
Mississippi. 

He  says,  that  east  of  this  limit,  the  fragile  castellated  outliers  that 
abound  in  the  driftless  area  are  wanting,  though  outliers  do  occur, 
though  not  abundantly,  and  they  are  thick  and  of  rounded  contour, 
and  more  commonly  of  limestone;  but  that  north  of  this  line  the  drift 
is  quite  insignificant,  and  all  surface  irregularities  are  as  purely  the 
result  of  subferial  agencies  as  in  the  driftless  region  itself.  And  this 
corresponds  with  the  outliers  in  Dakota  count}',  Minnesota,  menlioned 
above,  which  are  north  of  Lake  Pepin,  and  within  the  drift  area. 

There  are  several  grand  outliers  in  Jackson  county,  Illinois;  one  of 
these  is  called  the  "  Back-bone,"  and  another  the  "  Bake-oven."  The 
uplands  contain  some  drift  and  gravel,  but  none  have  been  observed 
south  of  the  dividing  ridge  that  crosses  the  State  through  the  south 
part  of  this  county  and  the  north  part  of  Union.  The  drift  clays  and 
gravel  do  not  average  more  than  20  feet  in  thickness,  and  below  these 
there  is  frequt^^tly  found  a  dark  blue  or  black  mud,  containing  branches 
of  trees,  and  sometimes  trees  of  large  size.  In  Perr^-  county,  tlie  drift 
deposits  seldom  attain  a  thickness  of  more  than  30  or  40  feet.  But 
below  them,  as  in  Jackson  county,  there  is  a  layer  of  blue  mud  lying 
on  the  stratified  rocks,  which  is  so  full  of  partly  decomposed  vegetable 
matter,  consisting  of  leaves  and  w^ood,  as  to  render  the  water  in  wells 
that  penetrate  it,  unfit  for  use.  In  Jersey  county,  the  drift  consists  of 
about  20  feet  of  yellowish-brown  clay  at  the  top,  below  which  there 
occurs  from  20  to  30  feet  of  sand  and  gravel,  with  bowlders;  and  this 
is  underlaid  b}'  about  15  feet  of  blue  plastif  clay,  which  contains  frag- 
ments of  wood,  and  even  trees  of  considerable  size.  In  Greene,  Cal- 
houn, and  Scott  counties,  there  is  some  evidence  of  buried  channels 
where  the  drift  is  100  feet  or  more  in  thickness.  In  Cook  count}', 
there  i':  abundant  evidence  of  the  lake  having  been  40  feet  higher 
than  it  is  now,  and  that  trees  grew  upon  the  surface,  at  levels  lower 
than  the  present  height  of  the  lake.  There  is  also  some  evidence 
here  of  a  buried  liver  channel.  In  Adams  count}',  below  90  feet  of 
drift  clay,  with  gravel  and  bowlders,  there  occur  an  ancient  soil  and 
subordinate  clays,  without  bowlders,  or  other  evidences  of  drift  action. 
At  S}  camore,  in  DeKalb  county,  large  pieces  of  wood  were  met  with  in 
the  blue  clays,  at  the  base  of  the  drift,  at  50  feet  in  depth;  and  similar 


332 


Tertiary. 


m 


instances  occur  in  Kane,  Dupage,  Ricliland,  Monroe,  Morgan,  Tazewell, 
and  other  counties.  Indeed,  in  nearly  every  portion  of  the  State,  re- 
mains of  trees  are  found  in  the  ancient  soil  in  which  they  grew  in  situ 
heneath  the  gravelly  clays  and  hard  pan  of  the  drift. 

In  Martin  county,  Indiana,  near  the  town  of  Shoals,  on  the  O.  &  M, 
railroad,  there  are  numerous  outliers  of  sandstone  of  carboniferous 
age,  high  and  sharp  ridges,  and  much  wild  and  rugged  scenery.  A  high 
ridge  terminates  near  the  east  fork  of  White  river,  fiom  the  top  of  which 
there  is  a  projecting  mass  of  conglomerate  sandstone,  called  the  "Pin- 
nacle,'' which  stands  170  feet  above  the  level  of  the  stream.  On  the 
north  side  of  this  ridge,  there  is  a  tall  outlier,  which  is  called  "Jug 
Rock,"  from  +,he  resemblance  which  it  bears  to  a  jug.  It  is  42  feet 
high,  and  supports,  on  its  top,  a  flat  projecting  layer,  which  is  called 
the  "  Stopper."  A  picture  of  this  rock  forms  the  frontispiece  to  the 
Second  Report  on  the  Geological  Survey  of  that  State,  by  E.  T.  Cox. 
The  "Kiiobs,"  or  "Knob  stone  formation,"  of  Southern  Indiana,  i.s  so 
named  from  outliers  of  subcarboniferous  sandstone  that  have  prot*^cted 
the  underlying  shaly  rocks  from  denudation  during  all  the  ages  that 
have  passed  since  the  Carboniferous  era.  "Warren  county  is  situated 
in  the  north westei'u  part  of  the  State,  and  is  deeplj'  covered  by  the 
drift,  near  the  base  of  which,  and  resting  on  a  broken  and  irregular 
floor  of  Coal  Measure  rocks,  there  is  generally  found  a  bed  of  claj' 
somewhat  intermixed  with  quicksand  and  ..lack  muck.  In  sinking  a 
shaft  ♦^o  the  base  of  this  drift,  an  ancient  soil,  containing  the  roots  of 
trees  and  shrubs  in  situ  was  discovered,  nctw'thstanding  the  passage 
through  more  than  50  feet  of  the  bowlder  drift  i.\  i  clay.  And  it  may 
be  laid  down  as  a  rule,  in  Indiana,  that  in  all  canes  where  the  soil  was 
not  swept  off  by  the  flood  of  waters  in  the  drift  period,  it  will  be  found, 
at  the  base  of  the  drift,  containing  the  evidences  of  land  vegetation, 
not  materially  distinct  from  that  which  now  prevails  on  the  top  of  the 
drift  deposits. 

There  are  extensive  driftless  areas  in  eastern  and  southern  Ohio. 
These  are  marked  by  outliers,  monument  rocks,  sharp  ridges,  rugged 
scenery,  and  the  total  absence  of  the  drift  sand,  gravel,  and  bowlders, 
that  characterize  drift  areas.  The  outspread  of  the  drift  materials 
from  the  north  extends  to  the  sources  of  the  J'ivers  that  flow  into  the 
Ohio,  and  over  more  or  less  of  the  land  intervening  between  the  minor 
branches,  near  where  the  leading  streams  arise;  but  below  this,  the 
drift  material  is  found  onlj'-  in  the  vallejp  of  the  principal  rivers.  It 
seems  that  wherever  the  valley  was  large  enough  to  carrj*  off^  the  flow 


Mesozoic  and  Ccenozoic  Geology  and  Pahconlology. 


:}:^3 


of 


of  water  from  the  north,  the  iidjacent  land  was  not  overflowed,  and  the 
height  of  the  water  in  the  valley  was  marked  bj'  river  terraces.  In 
eastern  Ohio,  however,  only  those  rivers  Avhich  have  their  sources  in 
the  centra)  and  northern  part  of. the  State,  have  river  terraces,  as  the 
Scioto,  Hocking,  and  Muskingum  rivers;  while  the  smaller  tributaries 
of  the  Ohio,  such  as  Raccoon,  Shade,  Little  Muskingum,  and  Duck 
creek,  have  not  a  vestige  of  the  evidences  of  the  drift  from  their  sources 
to  the  Ohio.  Some  counties  are  absolutely  driftless  areas,  while  others, 
like  Athens  and  Washington,  show  that  the  water  passed  down 
the  Hocking  and  Muskingum  valleys,  but  overspread  no  other 
part  of  the  country.  The  same  phenomena  may  be  observed  in  Indi- 
ana and  Illinois.  The  water  did  not  cross  the  great  vallej-  of  the  Ohio 
until  it  reached  the  western  part  of  Kentuck}',  for  the  States  of  Ken- 
tucky and  Virginia,  south  and  east  of  the  State  of  Ohio,  are  absolutely 
driftless  areas. 

It  is  an  important  fact,  that  throughout  the  drift  area  of  Ohio,  in  all 
well  authenticated  cases  of  excavation,  below  the  drift,  where  there  are 
no  evidences  of  denudation,  at  the  particular  places,  there  has  been 
found  an  ancient  soil  of  vegetable  mould  resting  upon  the  disintegrated 
stratified  rocks  in  place.  The  beech,  sycamore,  hickory  and  cedar 
have  been  found  where  they  grew  prior  to  tlie  existence  of  the  drift 
period.  And  beneath  this  ancient  soil,  no  one  has  discovered  striated 
or  furrowed  rocks,  such  as  the  glacialists  have  claimed  as  an  evidence 
of  their  theory,  and  which  are  not  uncommon  where  the  ancient  soil 
does  not  exist.  Wherever  a  ridge  is  found  having  an  easterly  and 
westerly  direction,  the  north  side  and  the  plains  to  the  north  are 
covered  with  this  ancient  soil,  reposing  on  the  stratified  rocks,  beneath 
the  whole  mass  of  the  drift.  But  on  the  ridges  the  soil  is  usually 
absent,  and  the  rocks  are  not  unfrequentl}'^  scratched  and  covoied 
with  drift  resting  upon  the  abraded  surfaces. 

A  very  good  illustration  of  the  ancient  soil  beneath  the  drift  may 
be  seen  at  the  raih'oad  cut  north  of  the  tunnel  on  East  Walnut  Hills, 
in  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  This  soil  has  a  thickness  in  one  place  of 
four  feet,  and  consists  of  a  compact  mass  of  very  dark,  rich,  decayed 
vegetable  matter  full  of  roots  which  are  lignitiferous,  and  still  retain 
the  hard  woody  fibers  in  a  moderately  good  state  of  pi-oservation.  It 
reposes  on  the  rocks  of  the  Hudson  River  Group,  and  is  covered  by  the 
sand  and  gravel  of  the  drift,  twenty  feet  or  more  in  thickness. 

The  excavation  exposed  it  upon  each  side,  for  a  distance  ot  about 
100  feet,  but  the  masonry  will  entirely  cover  it  and  hide  it  from  view 
this  season. 


334 


Tertiary, 


Commencing  in  the  lower  tier  of  counties  in  the  State  of  New  York 
where  the  hills  are  from  GOO  to  800  feet  above  the  level  of  the  narrow 
valleys,  as  they  occur  in  Cattaraugus,  Alleghany,  Steuben  and  Chemung 
counties,  and  extending  South  over  all  the  highlands  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  over  Virginia,  West  Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  the  eastern 
parts  of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  and  South  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
we  have  an  absolutely  driftless  area;  an  area  of  dry  land  when  the 
marine  clays  and  sands  were  strewn  over  the  territory  adjacent  to  the 
Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  and  over  the  New  England  States;  and  also  an 
area  of  dry  land  during  the  period  of  the  drift,  of  the  central  part  of 
the  continent,  and  for  untold  geological  ages  antecedent  thereto.  The 
elevated  hills,  precipitous  ledges,  profound  valleys,  overhanging  rocks, 
and  castellated  outliers  of  the  Carboniferous  conglomerate  in  Cat- 
taraugus county,  some  of  which  are  illustrated  in  the  Geology  of 
McKean  county,  in  the  Report  of  Progress  R.  of  the  Second  Geological 
Survey  of  Penns^'lvania,  under  the  name  of  the  Olean  conglomerate  at 
Rock  City,  furnfsh  the  most  incontestible  evidence  of  the  ordinary 
eroding  agents  through  a  period  of  time,  commencing  long  anterior  to 
the  Tertiarv  epoch,  and  equally  as  conclusive  evidence  that  no  glacier 
ever  passeci  over  that  territory. 

During  the  ages  that  elapsed  from  the  Carboniferous  to  the  Tertiary, 
the  Ohio  river  and  its  tributaries  were  excavating  their  valleys,  and  so 
also  were  the  streams  that  flowed  through  the  channel,  that  drained  the 
northern  and  central  part  of  the  continent,  which  is  now  represented 
by  the  chain  of  great  lakes.  Where  the  valleys  thus  eroded  remain 
unaffected  by  the  drift,  they  are  frequently  immense  chasms.  The 
streams  which  flowed  from  the  divide  into  the  great  drainage  system 
of  the  north,  cut  out  the  valleys  precisely  as  did  the  tributaries  fi  ^w- 
ing  south  or  east  into  the  Ohio,  and  to  equally  as  great  depth-  Could 
we  see  northern  Ohio  stripped  of  the  drift,  we  would  see  a  country 
quite  as  rough  and  rugged  as  southeastern  Ohio.  But  there  came  a 
time  when  this  drainage  system  of  the  north  was  obstructed  in  the 
region  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  the  wateis  were  thrown  back  over  the 
country,  forming  an  immense  lake.  From  this  lake,  deposits  of  clay, 
sand  and  gravel  were  precipitated  over  the  country  overflowed,  and 
from  the  northern  shore  or  sides  of  the  Laurentian  mountains,  the  shore 
ice  transported  to  the  south  bowlders  and  rocky  masses,  in  the  same 
manner  that  it  transports  them  now  from  one  side  of  Lake  Winnipeg 
to  the  other,  and  thus,  much  of  the  country  was  changed  from  its  broken 
and  hilly  aspect  into  nearly  a  level  plain.      And  when  this  lake  over- 


Mesozoic  and  Cobhozoic  Oeoloyy  and  Pahvontology. 


335 


flowed  tlie  barrier  or  dividing  ridge  on  the  soiitli,  and  swept  over  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Illinois,  western  Kentucky,  Tennessee  and  Mississippi,  it 
transported  the  material  that  constitutes  tlic  drift  deposits  oi'  these 
States,  and  which  extends  in  the  Mississippi  valle^''  as  far  as  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  The  rush  of  water  was  adec^uate  to  transpwrt  and  distribute 
the  finer  material,  and  the  shore  ice  was  sullicient  to  transport  the 
bowlders  and  larger  masses,  and  distribute  them  as  far  south  as  thev 


occur 


The  lake  deposits  on  the  hills  and  mountains  near  the  shores  of 
Lake  Superior,  occur  GOO  feet  above  the  present  level  of  the  lake,  or 
high  enough  to  overflow  all  the  States  to  the  south.  The  ancient  soil 
beneatli  the  drift  attbrds  evidence  that  the  climate  was  not  materially 
different  from  the  climate  of  to-day.  The  hintl  and  fresh-water  shells 
found  at  different  elevations  in  the  drift,  and  the  oft  recurring 
timber  transported  and  buried  at  all  heights  within  it,  show  nothing 
that  indicates  a  change  of  climate  from  the  time  preceding  the  drift 
through  all  its  various  stages.  The  ancient  beaches  prove  the  differ- 
ent elevations  of  the  lakes,  and  teach  us  of  long  |)eriods  of  time 
required  for  the  pebbles  and  bowlders  to  be  made,  that  now  form  those 
terraces,  where  the}  are  preserved,  and  constitute  so  considerable  a 
part  of  the  drift  that  was  svve|)t  southwardly  when  the  lakes  overflowed 
their  barriers  and  carried  them  away. 

The  drift  is  then  not  only  of  Fost-pliocene  age,  but  much  of  it  dates 
back  through  all  Tertiary  time,  and  some  of  it  is,  probably,  much 
older.  But  that  part  of  it  containing  the  iNIammoth,  Mastodon,  Dico- 
t\des,  Castoroides,  and  other  mammals,  with  aboriginal  man,  belongs 
to  the  most  recent  or  Post-pliocene  era. 

The  eastern  end  of  Lake  Ontario  is  near  a  volcanic  region,  and 
within  the  range  of  the  Appalachian  system,  where  there  have  been 
important  local  elevations  and  depressions,  as  heretofore  shown,  by  the 
sinking  and  rising  of  the  coast  from  New  York  to  Hudson's  bay.  The 
disturbance  and  elevation  has  been  sufficient  to  throw  the  lakes  back 
over  the  State  of  New  York,  and  high  up  on  the  hills  to  the  north,  as 
shown  l\v  the  numei'ous  terraces,  beaches  and  lacustrine  deposits. 
This  great  lake  may  never  have  united  with  the  grand  body  of  water 
which  is  now  represented  on  a  smaller  scale  by  Lake  Superior,  and 
again  they  may  have  been  united  at  some  period,  and  disunited  at 
others.  But  all  the  phenomena  presented  in  this  region  is  to  be 
accounted  for  by  the  presence  of  these  lakes  at  various  altitudes. 

Lake  Superior  is  in  a  volcanic  region,  and  near  the  western  end  of 


336 


Tertiary. 


\s 


tlie  Lanrentian  mountainH,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  earthquakes 
and  volcanic  enor<5ies  had  something  to  do  with  the  emptying  of  these 
vast  bodies  of  water  over  the  country  to  the  soutli.  The  drift  deposits, 
to  the  west  of  Lake  Su|)er'.or,  which  spread  over  part  of  Minnesota, 
and  extend  as  far  soutli  as  the  Missouri  river,  belong  to  an  overflow 
of  the  great  central  lake  of  British  America,  which  is  evidenced  b}' 
the  terraces  and  beaches  of  that  extensive  region.  The  overflows  have, 
therefore,  not  only  occurred  at  different  periods  of  time,  but,  probably, 
from  three  different  bodies  of  water.  If  then,  all  the  phenomena  are  to  be 
accounted  for  by  ordinary  and  well  known  forces  of  nature,  wh}'  call  to 
their  aid  a  glacial  period,  which  will  account  for  none  of  them. 

Taking  a  broad  and  general  view,  we  would  say  that  the  drift 
upon  the  eastern  part  of  the  continent,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson 
river  to  Hudson  bay,  is  marine,  and  the  strijE  upon  the  rocks  were 
produced  under  water.  The  age  dates  back  to  the  Pliocene  era,  and 
probably  to  the  Miocene.  When  this  margin  was  depressed,  a  corre- 
sponding elevation  took  place  east  of  Lake  Ontario,  that  blocked  up 
the  great  river  that  had  drained  the  central  part  of  the  continent,  as 
far  west  as  Lake  Superior,  during  the  Triassic,  Jurassic,  Cretaceous 
and  earlier  Tcrtiar3'  periods.  This  elevation  was  more  than  500  feet,  as 
proven  by  the  lacustrine  clays  exceeding  that  height,  which  were 
formed  upon  the  hill  and  mountain  ranges  surrounding  the  great 
inter:ial  lake  caused  by  this  back-water,  and  as  further  evidenced  by 
the  fact,  that  after  the  lake  had  been  permitted  to  stand  at  this  height 
for  so  long  a  period  as  to  form  terraces  and  beaches,  that  later,  it 
excavated  the  elevated  barrier  to  a  depth  of  500  feet,  forming  a  chan- 
nel, which  is  now  in  the  bed  of  Lake  Ontario,  and  when  the  eastern 
coast  was  again  elevated,  this  region  was  correspondingly  depressed. 

The  drift  on  other  parts  of  the  continent  is  fresh  water  or  lake  drift, 
and  the  striae  were  produced,  except  in  cases  of  drifting  sand  under 
atmospheric  influences,  by  the  action  of  water  forcing  harder  materials 
against  obstructions,  or  over  barriers,  and  by  floating  shore  ice  having 
frozen  within  it,  the  sand,  gravel  and  iiowlders  of  the  place  in  which  it  was 
formed.  In  the  Rocky  mountain  region,  each  valley  is  the  limit  of  its  own 
drift  phenomena;  but  when  the  northern  part  of  the  range  was  elevated,  a 
very  large  interior  lake  was  formed  in  British  America,  which  seems 
to  have  covered  many  vallej^s,  and  in  times  comparatively  recent,  to 
have  overflowed  the  country  so  as  to  empt}'  itself  in  part,  into  the 
streams  that  flow  south  into  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi  rivers. 

Another  great  overflow  took  place  from  the  more  central  lake.     This 


Mesozoic  and  CoBuozoic  Geology  and  Pahuontoloijy. 


337 


ing 


exteiuled  over  the  eastern  part  of  tlie  State  of  Illinois,  over  Indiana 
and  the  western  part  of  Ohio.  The  overflow  had  a  width  of  more  than 
300  miles,  and  from  its  western  mart>in  it  followed  the  streams  westerly 
to  the  Alississippi,  and  from  its  eastern  margin  to  the  Oliio,  so  that 
its  greatest  width  in  these  States  exceeded  ilOO  miles.  This  overflow 
may  have  been  prodnced  by  volcanic  energies  in  the  Lake  Superior 
region,  and  occurred  as  late  as  the  Post-pliocene  age.  It  was  the 
great  destroyer  of  the  mammoth  and  the  mastodon  and  other  extinct 
Post-pliocene  mammalia.  Since  that  period  the  lakes  have  gradually 
drained  themselves  to  lower  levels  through  the  outlet  at  Lake  Ontario, 
leaving  here  and  there  lower  lake  beaches  and  terraces.  In  process  of 
time,  Niagara  Falls  will  recede  to  Lake  Erie,  and  that  lake  will  be 
drained  to  its  ancient  channel,  and  other  beaches  and  terraces  will  be 
left  to  represent  the  present  height  of  the  lake  in  the  same  manner 
that  I  have  supposed  the  higher  beaches  and  terraces  to  represent  the 
former  levels.  This  explanation  seems  to  the  author  suflicient  to 
account  for  all  the  phenomena  discovered  by  tlie  geologists,  and  it 
certainly  calls  to  its  aid  no  mythical  hypothesis  or  unknown  freaks  of 
nature,  but  rests  upon  well-known  physical  and  geological  laws. 

It  is  no  small  tax  upon  the  imagination  tr  believe  that  a  great  sheet 
of  ice,  having  an  existence  in  the  north,  ascended  the  Laurentiau 
mountains  north  of  these  lakes,  and  then  dipped  down  into  the 
earth,  scooping  out  Lake  Superior  900  feet  in  depth,  pulverizing  the 
material,  transforming  it  into  gravel,  sand  and  bowlders,  scraping  ofl 
the  soil  in  some  places,  and  scratching  the  rocks  in  others,  as  it 
ascended  the  valle\'s  to  the  height  of  the  dividing  ridge  between  the 
waters  that  flowed  to  the  north  and  the  south,  and  precipitating  itself 
into  the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio,  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers,  and 
depositing  behind  it  in  such  even  and  beautiful  distribution  the  sand 
and  gravel  that  now  fills  the  ancient  valle\'s,  and  forms  a  vast,  almost 
level  plain  over  the  northern  pp.ts  ot  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and 
yet  did  not  sweep  off  the  ancient  gravel  beaches,  in  many  places,  that 
now  mark  upon  the  mountains  and  hills  the  ancient  shores  of  vast 
bodies  of  water. 

To  believe  in  the  glacial  theory  requires  all  this  stretch  of  the  imagina- 
tion, and  to  be  a  real  sound  stalwart  in  the  faith,  there  are  many  other 
marvelous  things  which  must  be  accepted.  One  of  these  is  described 
by  a  Pennsylvania  geologist,  to  account  for  the  drift  phenomena  of 
New  York.     He  says  : 

"  But  when  the  ice  front  had  been  melted  back  to  the  southerly  crest 


i! 


338 


Tertiary. 


H 


u 


of  the  ClmutJiuqiKi  divide,  tiie  battle  between  the  elements  of  heat  and 
cold  commenced  in  earnest.  North  of  the  barrier,  tlie  ice-king  had 
massed  his  forces;  Lake  Eric  bnsin  was  full  of  ice,  and  all  the  reserves 
of  the  north  were  freely  moving  down  into  it.  As  fast  as  one  skirmish 
line  on  the  summit  was  repulsed,  another  was  thrown  forwai-d;  and 
thus  alternately  advancing  and  retreating,  the  contest  raged  for  ages 
before  the  invading  ice  was  forced  back,  permanently  confined,  within 
the  limits  of  the  present  lake  basin." 

The  Muse  that  divulged  this  information  must  have  been  slain  in 
the  last  glacial  engagement,  and  remained  for  ages  housed  up  in  her 
little  sepulchre,  because,  otherwise,  it  is  evident  that  she  would  have 
told  all  about  the  grand  glacial  ball  which  ensued  after  the  vict()r3' 
was  complete,  when  the  glaciers  danced  quadrilles,  waltzed  and  ma- 
zourkied,  and  scratched  and  furrowed  the  rocks  in  all  directions, 
followed  by  cutting  the  "pigeonwing"  and  the  great  American 
"  hoe-down,"  when  the  glaciers  shook  the  gravel,  sand  and  bowlders, 
which  they  had  collected  for  war,  out  of  their  crests  and  huge  de- 
l)ositories,  and  covered  the  earth,  which  in  their  great  glee  they  had 
cut  up  and  striated  so  beautifully. 

In  conclusion,  the  author  would  seriousl}^  call  the  attention  of  the 
I'eader  to  the  array  of  facts  here  collected  tending  to  prove  that  there 
is  no  marine  or  other  deposit  which  represents  a  glacial  period  of 
time,  and,  therefore,  there  is  no  such  geological  period;  that  there  is  no 
gap  in  geological  nomenclature  into  which  it  can  be  lodged  or  injected. 
That  the  fossils  and  animal  and  vegetable  remains  teach  us  of  no  such 
period,  but  quite  the  contrary.  And,  finally,  that  the  glacial  epoch  is  a 
theoretical  blunder,  without  the  support  of  any  known  facts,  and  averse 
to  all  our  geological  and  palreontological  information. 


^.b' 


r  lieat  nnd 
•king  had 
le  reserves 
I  skirinisli 
vjinl;  and 
1  for  tigCH 
?a],  witliin 

n  slain  in 
up  in  iier 
ould  have 
le  victorj' 

and  nia- 
liroctions, 
American 
bowlders, 

huge  de- 
they  had 

3n  of  the 
hat  there 
period  of 
here  is  no 
•  injected, 
f  no  such 
spoch  is  a 
nd  averse 


'J' 


S' 


